You Will Not Believe The ‘Apology’ Letter Judge Eleanor Ross Wrote Her Clerks

Judge Eleanor Ross is receiving a well-deserved wave of criticism right now, but people are not directing nearly enough anger toward her fellow judges on the bench. While conducting an affair with a high-ranking law enforcement official inside her chambers and then lying about it will likely lead to the Georgia judge’s impeachment, there has not been sufficient outrage over the judges from the Eleventh Circuit and the Judicial Conference Committee on Judicial Conduct and Disability who reviewed the evidence in this case and determined that the appropriate response was to relieve Ross of the administrative responsibilities of serving as a chief judge and to have her write apology letters to her clerks.

These judges even went so far as to structure the punishment as a private reprimand, aiming to keep the judge on the bench and completely in the dark from the public. However, they failed to produce a report that was sufficiently anonymized to outsmart basic AI.

As for those apology letters, Judge Ross had the audacity to look a gift horse in the mouth and asked whether she could keep the letters vague. Arguably, the only real penalty she anticipated from this was a slap on the wrist, and she wanted it to be even lighter. AND THE OTHER JUDGES AGREED. “The special committee recommends that the Judicial Council instruct the Subject Judge to use the judge’s best judgment in drafting letters of apology that communicate the judge’s sentiments without risking undue embarrassment to the Subject Judge or the judiciary.” The only restriction they placed was that the vague language still be “sufficiently specific” so that the clerks could understand what it was about.

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The New York Times obtained one of the apology letters that Judge Ross sent her clerks and… wow.

Thank you for your contributions to our court during your clerkship. I convey my deepest apology for not taking steps to ensure that it was a more positive experience. I wish you all the best in your future legal endeavors and in life.

In her defense, that is probably specific enough for any clerk who sat ten steps from the taxpayer-funded Love Shack. But it is exactly the mockery of the process that we all envisioned when we read the report that approved her request to keep the letters vague.

If you believe — as many people seem to — that Ross’s behavior so deeply undermines public trust in the judiciary that it justifies her removal from the bench, how can you ignore the many other federal judges who also looked the other way? They reviewed these facts and concluded that it not only did not warrant serious punishment, but that the public should never know who was responsible.

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That seems like at least as significant a blow to the credibility of the judiciary.

Sex, Lies and Secrets: A Federal Judge’s Trysts Go Public [New York Times]

Earlier : Judge Eleanor Ross Impeachment Arrives Right On Schedule, Managing To Yet Again Botch The Standard Federal Judge Had Sex In Chambers Bringing New Meaning To Gavel Bang Judiciary Tried To Hide ‘Sex In Chambers’ Judge’s Name. It Left A Roadmap To Identify Eleanor Ross Instead.

Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer . Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter or Bluesky if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news.

Topics:

Courts

Eleanor Ross

Judicial Ethics