Judge who wore Trump hat in court suspended for 30 days

[Tennis]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilt...sion-1.4285487

A Hamilton judge who wore a "Make America Great Again" hat in court the morning after Donald Trump's U.S. election win last November has been suspended for 30 days.

Judge Bernd Zabel appeared before a disciplinary hearing last month, and said he did not support the American president, but was simply trying to make people laugh when he wore the baseball cap with the phrase Trump used during his campaign.

"Justice Zabel is reprimanded for his breach of the standards of judicial conduct," reads the decision from the Ontario Judicial Council.

The decision also said Zabel is suspended for 30 days without pay. He has not been hearing cases since December.

The suspension is the most serious sanction that the Ontario Judicial Council can impose, short of dismissing the judge.

After news broke that Zabel wore the hat in court on Nov. 9, 2016, the council received 81 complaints about his conduct. According to the decision, the most common theme throughout them was that the veteran judge's conduct "represented an unacceptable expression of partisan political views by a judge."

"Most complainants indicate a heightened concern as they perceive many of the things Trump said during his campaign to indicate misogynistic, racist, homophobic, and anti-Muslim attitudes," the decision reads. "The complainants state that Justice Zabel has associated himself with those views by his conduct and that women and members of various vulnerable groups would reasonably fear that they would not be treated fairly and impartially by Justice Zabel."
'Strongly divergent policies'

The decision also touched on the tumultuous political climate in the United States, and noted that the 2016 election campaign was "highly partisan and bitter."

"The candidates advocated strongly divergent policies. Many of Trump's positions were provocative and controversial. If adopted, his policies on matters such as free trade, climate change, immigration, and national security would affect the daily lives of many Canadians," the decision reads.

"His views attracted wide attention in Canada and many Canadians expressed their strong disagreement with his policies. It was often stated that Trump's policies were contrary to Canada's interests and contrary to 13 basic Canadian values.

"Many Canadians found his views on women, racialized minorities, and other vulnerable groups to be highly offensive. For a judge to appear to endorse Trump's views would be perceived by the public to be an expression of opinion on issues of profound importance to Canadians."

Zabel appeared before a disciplinary hearing in Toronto last month, and apologized for wearing the hat.

"The man depicted in those complaints is not me," Zabel said. "I'm not a racist, I'm not a bigot, I'm not a misogynist."

An unblemished 27-year record, until now

On top of the complaints, the council also received 63 letters of support about Zabel from his judicial colleagues, members of the bar, court staff and members of the public. Zabel has been a judge for 27 years, and has never been the subject of any Ontario Judicial Council hearings.

"Justice Zabel is praised for his hard work, professionalism, integrity, and for being helpful to other judges and to counsel," the decision reads.

Duff Conacher, a law and political science professor at the University of Ottawa and co-founder of the advocacy group Democracy Watch, said that Zabel's penalty feels appropriate, given his decades of service without complaints or appearance of bias.

"Though I would like to see him suspended for longer," Conacher said. "Our system of government is based on having independent judges. It is fundamental to our democracy.

"But I don't think that it justified firing."

Many on social media have complained that the outcry surrounding the baseball cap incident would not have been as extreme had Zabel worn a hat aligned with a different political stripe — but Conacher says he doesn't buy that argument.

"If he had worn a Justin Trudeau hat, I think reaction would have been just as strong."

This will forever stain his reputation. It will follow him around for the rest of his life. Let this be a warning to others who would do the same.

[Belize]

I feel like I've seen this article before.

Is this just old news, or some other guy this happened to? Too lazy to check myself.

[Queen of Hamsters]

... This is all kinds of fucked up. So his years of service were somehow erased by him wearing this hat, possibly as a joke...?
I'm all for recognizing Trump for what he is, but I hardly believe the outcry had been the same if he'd worn a hat with some catchphrase by Obama, Hillary, Bush or whatever...

[Saucexorzski]

... This is all kinds of fucked up. So his years of service were somehow erased by him wearing this hat, possibly as a joke...?
I'm all for recognizing Trump for what he is, but I hardly believe the outcry had been the same if he'd worn a hat with some catchphrase by Obama, Hillary, Bush or whatever...

Mob justice has no bad targets.

[Putin-Chan]

I love it in good ol' Canada where you can be punished for supporting foreign politicians.

[Daedius]

This is old news...

- - - Updated - - -

Mob justice has no bad targets.

I hope this is sarcasm.

[Tennis]

This is old news...

- - - Updated - - -



I hope this is sarcasm.

Posted: Sep 12, 2017

Please don't blatantly lie in my threads.

[Masark]

I feel like I've seen this article before.

Is this just old news, or some other guy this happened to? Too lazy to check myself.

We've previously had articles about this judge and his action. The new bit is what his punishment was determined to be.

[Ooid]

Remember, it's fine when it's someone with your ideological opponent's views!

[Sunseeker]

It's applicable to showing support for any politician as judges are supposed to be neutral. Non-neutral judges damage the ability of a court to resolve cases and the social trust in the court system

And it's 30 days, he can deal with it.

[Daedius]

Posted: Sep 12, 2017

Please don't blatantly lie in my threads.

https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/new...beandmail.com&

April 19

You were saying... ?

Reported for Spam, learn to update in your older threads...

[PC Principal]

Hat implies Nationalism therefore minorities might be offended by it

[Deleted]

... This is all kinds of fucked up. So his years of service were somehow erased by him wearing this hat, possibly as a joke...?
I'm all for recognizing Trump for what he is, but I hardly believe the outcry had been the same if he'd worn a hat with some catchphrase by Obama, Hillary, Bush or whatever...

Well there wouldn't be much point in disciplinary hearings, if you could build up a record enough to avoid them in cases of undisciplined behaviour.

[Seranthor]

Posted: Sep 12, 2017

Please don't blatantly lie in my threads.

This IS old news... this is now the THIRD thread about the same judge, same incident... How is it you have special permission to violate the rules?


http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/...ted-misconduct

and

http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/...room-is-banned

[Masark]

https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/new...beandmail.com&

April 19

Want to be a smart ass again ?

Read closer. That article is about the disciplinary hearing happening. This story is about the ruling of said panel.

[Seranthor]

Read closer. That article is about the disciplinary hearing happening. This story is about the ruling of said panel.

And that is why OP should have annotated this to one of the other threads, you dont need a new thread for every little step in this process.

[Daedius]

Read closer. That article is about the disciplinary hearing happening. This story is about the ruling of said panel.

Like it needed another thread for that, totalling 3... all made by the same person.

Tennisace just spams because it's Canada related...

[Donald Hellscream]

Seems a bit harsh however the justice system is supposed to be impartial so it makes sense for the judge not to be allowed to wear clothing that may show some degree of affiliation, just like how judges aren't allowed to wear items that signify their religion because that could be seen as a bias of sorts which a judge shouldn't have.

[Moshots]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilt...sion-1.4285487



This will forever stain his reputation. It will follow him around for the rest of his life. Let this be a warning to others who would do the same.

I swear to god democrats need to put Lifelong victim on their resume's...... Like holy shit. They are making a Whole new career out of playing the victim for everything.

[Seranthor]

I swear to god democrats need to put Lifelong victim on their resume's...... Like holy shit. They are making a Whole new career out of playing the victim for everything.

But let a judge put someone in jail on a he said she said type of thing and we'll have the same usual suspects demanding that we accept the judge's ruling without question... It's almost like the attackers of this judge are hypocrites or something.