Judge Suspended for Jailing Immigrants
A western Kentucky judge is being suspended without pay for 15 days for jailing indefinitely 17 immigrants initially stopped for traffic violations.
Judge Carol Sue Browning arranged for police to jail immigrants without identification, and then denied them bail while federal authorities investigated their status, the AP reports. Some were held for as long as three weeks in August and September 2006.
A local church official who works with immigrants filed a complaint against Browning, because he felt that routinely jailing immigrants for misconduct ordinarily punished with a fine was too harsh, the article explains.
The state Judicial Conduct Commission on Thursday ordered Browning suspended from April 28 to May 12, saying that denying bail to immigrants violated their rights and created an appearance of bias. The judge had already ended the practice months earlier, according to the article.
