The Eleventh Circuit Judicial Council may have thought Judge Eleanor Ross's apology was sufficient to keep the reprimand private, but those not wearing a robe continue to see a problem. Representative Jordan of the House Judiciary Committee is starting to discuss an investigation.
The House Judiciary Committee's top Republican said his staff is looking at possible congressional action after a Georgia federal judge had an affair in her chambers, in earshot of clerks, and lied to judiciary officials about it.
Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) said Wednesday that his staff has "already put together a memo" on the facts involved in the misconduct findings against Judge Eleanor Ross of the Atlanta-based US District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.
The "key fact," he said in a brief interview, was that Ross lied to the judges investigating her misconduct. A judicial special committee report, released publicly in May, found the judge made "false statements" to the chief judges of her district and of the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, which oversees federal courts in Georgia, Florida, and Alabama.
"We're looking at it. We're going to run it by our members and see," Jordan said.
Jordan also wouldn't rule out impeachment as a possible response, a rare process for judges historically.
"Everything's on the table," Jordan said. "We don't take anything off the table."
To keep this discourse going, I am happy to pass along another guest post from Professor Arthur Hellman about Judge Eleanor Ross's situation.
