A police union representing many law enforcement officers in Las Vegas is demanding a judge to resign after making derogatory comments about police.
Clark County District Court Judge Erika Ballou is under fire for comments made in the courtroom earlier this month, when she spoke to a defendant about how black Americans are allegedly endangered by the police.
“You’re the one making the decisions not to walk away from cops. You’re a black man in America. You know you don’t want to be nowhere where cops are,” Judge Ballou said. “You know you don’t want to be nowhere where cops are cause I know I don’t, and I’m a middle-aged, middle-class black woman. I don’t want to be around where the cops are because I don’t know if I’m going to walk away alive or not.”
Despite her bias, Judge Ballou still found that the defendant violated probation.
“Even if the cop came after and was harassing your group, you should have walked away instead of staying,” she said. “You needed to walk away because you knew you were on probation, you knew.”
Despite revoking probation, Ballou reduced the defendant’s sentence from 24-60 months to 19-48 months.
According to 8NewsNow, The Las Vegas Police Protective Association (LVPPA) has asked Ballou to step down.
“On behalf of the men and women of law enforcement, the Las Vegas Police Protective Association takes exception to Judge Erika Ballou’s disparaging comments about police officers,” the organization said in a statement. “We call upon Judge Ballou to resign from the bench. We also ask the Judicial Ethics Commission to sanction her for violating the Nevada Code of Judicial Conduct.
“Among other obligations, the rules require the judiciary to, ‘[A]spire at all times to conduct that ensures the greatest possible public confidence in their independence, impartiality, integrity, and competence,’” the statement continued. “Judge Ballou has demonstrated that she is biased against law enforcement and cannot live up to the standards required of a jurist.
Judge Ballou’s comments, from the bench, that she, ‘does not want to be around where cops are because I don’t know whether I am going to walk away alive or not…’ are both unethical and irresponsible. Police officers and the law abiding citizens of our community deserve better from the judiciary.”
Ballou’s office released the following statement:
“I support proper law enforcement. What the record shows, is that I communicate with those who appear before me in a manner that is straight-forward and understandable.”
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