When elections roll around, my relatives who live in Los Angeles County still ask me what judges they should vote for. I rarely know judges on the ballot. There are a lot of judges in LA County. Once a judge is on the bench, most voters will reflexively vote them back for another term. I do the opposite. Unless I know the judge and have had a positive feeling about him or her, I vote to unseat them. I’ve appeared in front of perhaps 200 judges. Maybe more. Some have been highly competent and ethical. Some, it seemed, were barely able to tie their own shoes. One judge dozed off in the middle of trial. It was me examining the witness.   

Until recently, Georgia may have had the most incompetent, thin-skinned, and vindictive person sitting as a judge. Her name is Christine Peterson. Her judgeship is past tense because she was finally removed from office by the state's Supreme Court. 

Peterson was sworn in as a Probate Judge in 2020 in Douglas County, Georgia. Soon after taking her office, she demonstrated what a review panel said was rank incompetence. 

In one instance, a woman appeared in her Probate court to request a name change on her birth certificate. The woman had learned the name of her birth father and was requesting his name be included on the document. Because the woman appeared without a lawyer, Peterson found her in contempt of court and had her arrested. She spent two days in lockup until the woman made bail.  

Peterson systematically berated court staff, ignored court rules of procedure, and constantly posted inappropriate photos and comments on social media. In one post, she solicited cash from people. Panel Findings:

"On 26 August 2020 -- Respondent’s birthday -- Respondent posted via her Instagram Account a picture of herself wearing a tiara that read “birthday girl.” The caption of the post invited birthday donations, stating in part “If anyone feels like sharing their quarantine wealth, cashapp $cjpesq. … Thank you for all the gifts"

Her solicitation for “donations” may have been an attempt to pay off a judgment she had against her for  $43,446.76. Her HOA had sued her. The HOA was garnishing her wages as a judge.  

She had at least 30 complaints pending against her. Why was she still on the bench? When Peterson was accused of incompetence or nastiness toward staff or (like Jamaal Bowman) she pushed a panic button when she wasn’t getting her way, Peterson often played the race card. 

Back in April, Peterson was facing removal from the bench for abject incompetence. Instead of attempting to correct her behavior, Peterson seems to have done what she does best. She got into more trouble.  

On June 20th at 3:00 AM, Peterson was outside a bar. The 20th was a Thursday. Police had been called to quell a disturbance. The cop arrived, and Peterson immediately jumped into the scrum, demanding that the cop “Let her f***ing go!”  The 

Below is the long-form video

She was arrested and put in a police car. Peterson refused to give her name and told the cop to “Google me.” The cop remained calm throughout. What was Peterson’s reaction? It was the cop’s fault. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court of Georgia removed her from her judgeship. What was Peterson’s reaction?  

"Honestly, I was in expectation of it... I was in anticipation of it. I have been attacked since I've been in office," she told WVEE, explaining that she believed the decision to remove her was targeted. 

"They tried me in a court of public opinion instead of really looking at and seeing if I did anything. Nothing I have done has been willful or misconduct,"

Peterson will probably sue the state, claiming she was the victim of racism. The arresting officer is black.