Controversial judge booted even before panel hears of latest arrest for attacking cop
The Georgia state Supreme Court ruled to remove Probate Judge Christina Peterson from the bench — and their opinion didn't even involve the judge's arrest over the weekend.
Fox 5 Atlanta reported that Peterson, a first-term judge in Douglas County, Georgia, has faced several allegations that resulted in a complaint to the Judicial Qualifications Commission.
The report stated that she was found guilty of "systemic incompetence" because she "ignored courthouse rules, abused courthouse personnel, made inappropriate social media posts, and, in repeated cases, failed to do her job."
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There were four separate hearings that dealt with 30 ethics charges.
One of those allegations came from Peterson's ruling to jail a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Thailand. The woman wanted to amend her marriage certificate because she wanted to ensure her father's name was on it. She previously didn't know her father's real name. The woman attempted to add a translated birth certificate to ensure proper documentation, but "the document indicated it was 'not recommended as a legal document,'" said the report.
Peterson called a hearing in 2021, not telling the woman that she could be held in contempt or jailed.
Peterson then went on to lambast the translated birth certificate, calling it "fictitious," "fraudulent" and "forged" and sentenced her to 20 days in prison and a $500 fine.
The panel ruled that it was an improper sentence.
She will not be eligible for election or appointment anywhere in Georgia for seven years.
Over the weekend, Peterson was arrested outside of a restaurant and lounge in Buckhead, Georgia. She allegedly struck a police officer and refused to give her name during arrest. Peterson said she was trying to help a woman who she said she was attacked.
The latest allegations, however, were not included in her ethics hearing, the report said.
See the arrest video below or at the link here.
Video shows Douglas County judge's arrest in Atlanta | FOX 5 News www.youtube.com