It appears that a local judge (Haltom City) has gotten himself in trouble for locking up women so that he could look at their breasts. The local ABC affiliate, WFAA-TV, has been hammering at this story for quite some time. Now they've finally uncovered some pretty damning statements in depositions that were filed in court recently. Here's an article from today's Dallas Morning News with some of the details:
In the 10-page deposition filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Fort Worth, Mr. Weaver told attorneys for the women that Judge Byno's decisions to keep some women in jail were "based solely on the size of their breasts." Mr. Weaver's statement is part of the documents filed in the cases of the 12 women.The jumpsuits that were given to female inmates required them to practically strip to use the restroom. The judge (and some of the jailers) would watch them on the jail's TV monitors.
"Judge Byno was known to all the jail staff and to many of the police officers as being the worst offender when it came to making sexually degrading comments about female inmates and how they should be treated," Mr. Weaver said.
According to the deposition, Judge Byno made comments such as, "Look at the ... [breasts] on that one," and "Let's keep her in jail because I want to see those ... [breasts] again tomorrow," Mr. Weaver said.
He also said women who flirted with the judge during arraignments were sometimes released.
This particular judge is also known for giving out maximum fines and harsh sentences for minor offenses ("Max Jack"). It is thought that one of the reasons that the city was so resistant to pursuing the case was that he brought in a lot of revenue.
Take a look at the article and the picture of the judge. Somehow I'm glad I've never had to face this kind of petty tyrant. He doesn't seem very judicial.
Posted by Aubrey at January 9, 2003 12:36 PM