New York judge fired for pointing gun at a Black man in court [View all]
Source: Associated Press
New York judge fired for pointing gun at a Black man in court
BY MAYSOON KHAN
Updated 6:27 PM EDT, October 19, 2023
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — An upstate New York judge who pointed a loaded handgun at a Black man during a 2015 court hearing was removed from office Thursday by the state’s highest court.
Justice Robert J. Putorti was a Whitehall Town and Village Court. He repeatedly emphasized the race and stature of the litigant when recounting the episode, sometimes boastfully, according to an independent review by the New York State Court of Appeals. Putorti had said he aimed the gun at the man because he approached the stand too quickly, crossing a stop line for litigants.
In one instance, Putorti described the defendant to another judge as being 6 feet 9 inches tall (206 cm) and “built like a football player.” In reality, the man was only 6 feet (183 cm) and 165 pounds (75 kg), the decision noted.
The high court affirmed the state Commission on Judicial Conduct’s removal of Putorti, and noted the former judge’s description of the defendant “exploited a classic and common racist trope that Black men are inherently threatening or dangerous, exhibiting bias or, at least, implicit bias.”
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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/new-york-judge-pointed-gun-black-man-acb11b7f8891970b367f2d8495dd54dc
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