Judge who displayed Confederate-flag statue should be removed, judicial conduct commission says
According to the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct, Judge Thomas F. Rathbun Jr., a nonlawyer who is a justice on the Salisbury Town Court in Herkimer County, New York, should be removed for multiple acts of misconduct. (Image from Shutterstock)
A New York town justice who denigrated political candidates on Facebook and displayed a Confederate-flag statue should be removed from office, according to the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct.
The commission said Judge Thomas F. Rathbun Jr., a nonlawyer who is a justice on the Salisbury Town Court in Herkimer County, New York, should be removed for multiple acts of misconduct.
Rathbun displayed the statue featuring the Confederate flag on his desk in chambers for a period of 18 years, according to the Aug. 5 commission determination made public on Monday. His desk could be seen from the courtroom on the frequent occasions that he left his door open.
Rathbun “undermined the integrity of the judiciary and created at least the appearance of racial bias” by displaying the statue, the commission said.
Rathbun also “posted inappropriate, partisan, political and otherwise-controversial content to his public Facebook page” for more than five years, the decision said. The posts characterized people who supported former President Barack Obama as stupid, compared President Joe Biden to the Joker from a 1989 Batman film, and commented on a purported link between saggy pants and prison sex.
In addition to creating the appearance of racial bias on Facebook, Rathbun “engaged in improper political activity, detracted from the dignity of his judicial office, and undermined public confidence in his integrity,” the commission said.
According to the commission, Rathbun’s inappropriate Facebook content included memes that:
• Disparaged then-presidential candidate Obama and said people should instead vote for then-presidential candidate Mitt Romney because he was “an adult.”
• Said Obama signs in yards might as well read: “Yes, I’m stupid.”
• Posted a cartoon calling Obama the “food stamp president.”
• Depicted former President Bill Clinton in a band uniform and Obama wearing a turban, with the title “American Presidents in Uniform.”
• Showed a Black man with his underwear showing above sagging jeans. The text read, “Did you know that sagging pants originated in jail, and the inmates would purposely sag their pants as a sign that they were ‘available’ to other inmates for sex.”
• During the Obama presidency, pictured Obama; Biden, then the vice president; and Nancy Pelosi, then the speaker of the House of Representatives, in a cage. A statement read, “We don’t need gun control. We need idiot control.”
• Said, “Why the hell do I have to press one for English?? Did America move?”
• Showed the Confederate and American flags. The post said anyone who thought that the Confederate flag should be banned because it represents slavery, murder, racism and oppression should also support banning the American flag.
• Said Robert E. Lee, a Confederate general during the Civil War, was defending Virginia against a murderous invasion, and former President Abraham Lincoln was “in reality, the greatest mass murderer America has ever seen.”
• Posted an image that read: “I’m proud to be white.”
According to the commission, Rathbun also failed to complete mandatory continuing legal education for 2022 and 2023, failed to file required monthly reports with the comptroller, and did not respond to ethics inquiries. He also failed to schedule or adjudicate a residential eviction case for 11 months, the commission said.
Rathbun has been barred from performing judicial duties since March 2023, the extended deadline that he received for completing CLE requirements in 2022. His judicial salary was stopped in May 2023 for failing to file the monthly reports.
Rathbun has been a town justice since 2002. His term was set to expire at the end of 2025.
Rathbun has 30 days to request review before New York’s highest court.
The ABA Journal called Rathbun’s town court office, but it was closed Monday. A voicemail message requesting comment was not immediately returned. The was no immediate response to an email sent to the Salisbury Town Court.
