Judge Mark Martin of Mechanicsburg, PA; ethical gremlin

The Pennsylvania Judicial Conduct Board found Mark guilty of the following misconduct.

In one matter, Mark was assigned a case involving a fellow Muslim who was charged with assaulting Atheists’ Pennsylvania State Director Ernest Perce V was marching in a parade. The Muslim man stormed out of the crowd and assaulted Mr. Perce by grabbing a sign around his neck and choking him by pulling the strings on the sign.

As a fellow Muslim, Judge Martin scolded Mr. Perce for offending Islam. He also called Perce a “doofus” and accusing him of “using the First Amendment” to enrage Muslims. Judge Martin then dismissed the assault charges against his fellow Muslim that were filed against his friend by the police.

Making matters worse, at a hearing on the assault, Martin brought a Quran to court and told Mr. Perce:

• “I think you misinterpreted a couple of things.”
• “So before you start mocking somebody else’s religion [mine], you might want to find out a little more about it.”
• “It kind of makes you look like a doofus.”

In an effort to further prove he’s a total Moron, Martin said:

• “I think our forefathers intended to use the First Amendment so we can speak with our mind, not to piss off other people and cultures, which is what you did.”

In short, Judge Martin ruled that it was acceptable to assault someone if that person said anything untoward about your religion, and especially if it dealt with Islam and/or the profit Mohammed.

As a consequence of his misconduct, the Patron Saints for Judicial Misfits sitting on the Judicial Conduct Board punished Mark by gifting him with a complimentary letter of caution. I hear tell that those can be like really painful!

In truth, the comedians sitting on the Judicial Conduct Board didn’t mete out any meaningful punishment to Mark.

As we speak (ca. June 2015), Judge Martin continues to sit as a Cumberland County Magisterial Court judge in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania.