Ohio Judge Gives Lawyer Six-Month Sentence for Using F-Word
An Ohio judge has sentenced a lawyer to six months in jail for using the F-word to describe an opposing attorney as he was leaving the courtroom.
Judge Robert Ruehlman of Cincinnati imposed the sentence on lawyer Michael Brautigam, who was in Hamilton County court representing himself in a condominium dispute, the Cincinnati Enquirer reports. Brautigam is a lawyer but is not licensed in Ohio.
As Brautigam turned to leave, he called opposing lawyer Peter Koenig a “a (bleeping) liar,” according to the newspaper account. “He used the famous F-word,” Koenig told the newspaper.
Ruehlman found Brautigam in contempt of court and imposed the same sentence he had meted out the day before to an accused gang member who cussed in court.
Koenig told the newspaper it’s not the first time that Brautigam has been disrespectful. “Judge Ruehlman absolutely did the right thing by attempting to maintain order, civility and decorum in his courtroom,” Koenig told the Enquirer.
