Editorial: Court official showed lack of judgment

Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2004 | 8:31 a.m.

Curtis Jackson is a 26-year-old hip-hop performer whose stage name is 50 Cent. He has a band called G-Unit and the dominant image on his Web site is a gun pointed at the viewer, whose first audio impression is that of a gunshot. We would agree with any judge who decided that someone appearing in court wearing a G-Unit T-shirt was dressed inappropriately. Such clothing has its place in a free country, but a judge has a time-honored duty to maintain decorum in the courtroom and would be perfectly within bounds to order the defendant to return at a later date, suitably dressed.

Unfortunately, this is not what happened last week when a teenage boy wearing a G-Unit T-shirt appeared in Juvenile Court before Hearing Master Sylvia Beller. Hearing masters are not judges, but they are appointed by judges to hear cases and they have all of the power of a judge while court is in session. Instead of ordering the boy to come back when he was properly attired, Beller ordered him to remove the T-shirt, leaving him naked from the waist up. The boy was in court on a misdemeanor graffiti charge and Beller had been ready to sentence him to probation. But she became increasingly angered at his clothing and ordered a bailiff to "lock his body up." On a videotape of the incident, she is heard saying, "He doesn't deserve the chance for (probation). He wants to be a gangbanger, that's fine. He can stay in custody." Standard procedure for jail-bound de fendants is for their belts to be removed. After Beller ordered the belt removed, the bailiff warned that if he did so, the! boy's baggy pants would fall down. "Oh well," Beller said and a moment later the boy was standing in court wearing only his boxer shorts.

Judicial temperament is just as important for a judge or hearing master as knowledge of the law. Among its qualities are courtesy, even temper, compassion, fair play, humility, tact, understanding and common sense. Beller showed none of those qualities in her treatment of this teenager. That's why we're concerned over the light discipline of Beller, announced this week by Chief District Judge Kathy Hardcastle. Beller was suspended for 30 days and will not again be allowed to oversee juvenile cases.

In our view, Beller demonstrated that she is not fit to be a hearing master. Her conduct on the bench warranted not only her removal, but a thorough examination of the judicial temperament standards throughout the District Court system.