John Jefferson
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Shermela Williams (County of Fulton/Facebook).
A Superior Court judge in Georgia is accused of using “the prestige of her office” to advance her private interests and commit judicial misconduct, allegedly going so far as to lock up a young woman who testified in a divorce case for more than 30 minutes in a holding cell, just so she could demean her for having “daddy issues,” officials say.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Shermela Williams allegedly had a deputy take the 22-year-old to a holding cell and made her sit inside it for over half an hour before bringing her back into the courtroom to condemn her for the testimony she gave in her parents’ divorce case. The Judicial Qualifications Commission (JQC) handed down formal charges of misconduct to Williams on Monday and accused her of failing to “fairly, promptly and efficiently” dispose of cases in violation of the state’s code of judicial conduct.
She allegedly tried cutting corners and asked for favors related to cases involving her uncle and other “private interests,” according to the JQC complaint. For her uncle, Williams “lent the prestige of her office” and called a local law associate whose firm was handling a case for someone with a pending contempt action against the uncle in Fulton County Superior Court. According to the JQC, she tried getting them to agree to an extension of time, to no avail.
“During the call, Judge Williams told the associate that her uncle was going through a difficult time,” the complaint says. “Judge Williams asked the associate to agree to an extension. The associate then asked Judge Williams whether she was representing the uncle, and Judge Williams responded she was not. Judge Williams then stated that because the associate and others at her law firm were reasonable, they should ‘work something out.”” According to the JQC, Williams also did things that were just plain wrong.
After hearing the 22-year-old woman testify about having an up-and-down relationship with her father, Williams allegedly ordered a deputy to detain her in a bid to teach her a lesson. She chose to do this while lawyers were delivering their closing arguments.
“Let me tell you something,” Williams said, according to the JQC complaint. “I was a prosecutor for 10 years, and let me tell you what I saw over and over again; girls who came in here with daddy issues they never even realized they had, but that’s how they ended up in certain situations… …And what you choose to do as far as your relationship with your dad, that’s on you, that’s between you, your dad, and the good Lord.”
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The JQC says violations of the “Code of Judicial Conduct” warrant discipline, and it believes Williams is a perfect candidate.
“Judge Williams’ conduct as outlined above amounts to willful misconduct in office; willful and persistent failures to perform the duties of office; and conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice which brings the judicial office into disrepute,” the complaint concludes.
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