► Judge Jack Nordby of Minneapolis; Il Duce Wannabee, arrogant, ethical gremlin Print E-mail
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Judge Jack Nordby of Minneapolis; Il Duce Wannabee, arrogant, ethical gremlin

 
Judge Jack Nordby sits on the 4th District Court in Hennepin County (Minneapolis/St. Paul) since 1995.
 
In December 2009, Judge Nordby presided over a case involving Chris Hahn who was convicted of first degree criminal sexual conduct against a child.
 
During the trial, members of a court monitoring group WATCH, which was organized in 1993 and has monitored over 64,000 hearings, appeared at the trial. The activities of WATCH in monitoring court proceedings is aimed at ending racial, cultural, and gender bias in the courts and to assure that the court’s (judges) function in accordance with the law and their oaths of office in dispensing justice as opposed to “dispensing with justice.”
 
At the conclusion of the Hahn trial, Judge Nordby decided it was time to audition for the annual Il Duce (Benito Mussolini) award as Minnesota’s No. 1 Judicial Tyrant. Towards that end, he engaged in an unwarranted outburst (juvenile temper tantrum) aimed at members of WATCH, all of whom were armed with “red clipboards and who were present in the courtroom. Judge Nordby made the following statements on the record in regards to the Watch members. 
  • Bearers of clipboards were a “cheering section” for the victim and the prosecution
  • Clipboards were a “not very subtle threat to the judge”
  • Clipboards were “arguably ex parte communications to judges about pending cases
  • Red clipboards are like gang signs and insignia used to influence and intimidate witnesses
  • WATCH has a sexist agenda
  • I know of “no judges who have genuine respect or esteem for WATCH
  • WATCH has an “intended nefarious influence on the justice system
  • WATCH is a “mixture of self-righteousness, officiousness, arrogance, humorlessness, and ignorance
It seems as though Judge Nordby practiced his outrageous comments against WATCH by looking into a mirror and asking:
  • Mirror, mirror on the wall who’s the most arrogant of them all?
  • Mirror, mirror on the wall who’s the most ignorant of them all?
  • Mirror, mirror on the wall who’s the most humorless of them all?
On each occasion, the mirror responded by saying, “It’s you Judge Nordby!”
 
Not satisfied with the above rants, Judge Nordby continued to unduly criticize WATCH at a subsequent hearing when he stated:
  • I have “absolutely no fear that whatever the Board on Judicial Standards my do with the complaint WATCH has filed against me that they’ll remove me from office. They will not do so.”
  • This is “not the first time WATCH has attacked me publicly. They attacked me in the newspaper and in their newsletter and, for all I know, they were prepared to campaign against me.”
  • WATCH has “affected dozens, perhaps hundreds of cases, at least potentially.”
How unpatriotic, maybe even illegal if WATCH members campaigned against Nordby’s re-election, right? We certainly cannot tolerate that kind of civil misconduct, right Judge Nordby?
 
In early 2010, WATCH filed an ethics complaint against Judge Nordby for his egregious misconduct. Subsequently, the Minnesota Board of Judicial Standards filed a certified complaint against Nordby for his outrageous behavior.
 
Judge Nordby’s Novel Defense to Ethics Complaint
 
On Oct 18m 2010, Judge Nordby filed his so-called response to the complaint filed by WATCH. The most absurd claim put forth by Nordby is as follows:
 
“To avoid WATCH-like conduct in the future, the rules of decorum will have to be modified. Trial observers must bring nothing with them. That way all spectators are the visually equal.”
 
Apparently, this asinine argument would apply to reporters for the Minneapolis Star Tribune who would be prohibited from carrying a notepad and a pen.
 
Judge Nordby’s real agenda is to operate his court behind closed doors in an overt attempt to prevent outsiders (that’d be the concerned citizens/taxpayers of Minneapolis) from witnessing his conduct on the bench and then reporting on it. The “truth” is what Judge Nordby really fears!!!
 
At a time when many citizens have lost faith in the judicial system, watchdog groups such as WATCH are unforutnately a necessity given the rampant misconduct taking place in our so-called justice courts.
 
Conclusion
 
It is high time that the Minnesota Supreme Court sent a message to judicial misfits such as Judge Nordby that this type of egregious misconduct will not be tolerated. Put simply, he should be removed from the bench.
 
Nordby shouldn’t lament about future employment prospects if he’s removed from the bench. I hear tell that the Wal Mart on Silver Lake Road in Minneapolis is looking to hire some “greeters.” And if that doesn’t bear fruit, there’s always the Minnesota School of Bartending on University Avenue in St. Paul.
 

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