LUTHMANN NOTE: Joining the judge club goes straight to too many heads. And sometimes it feels worse with Black judges, like they have to prove that they belong in the club and not on the porch. Everyone rises. Everyone says “Your Honor.” Before long, a public servant starts acting like a Sith Lord. May’s treatment of a late prospective juror shows the danger: other jurors became afraid to speak freely in a case where a man’s life was at stake. That is judicial ego run amok. We saw this from New Haven Judge Peter Brown in the Paul Boyne trial, when he repeatedly shat on the Constitution without a care in the world, jailing Boyne on the eve of trial because his big Black ass was butt-hurt when Boyne spoke with the press about Joette Katz being on the State’s witness list. Contempt power carries consequences far beyond the person singled out. A judge who frightens the jury pool risks poisoning the very independence he is supposed to protect. A robe is work clothing. It is no coronation. The public owes no judge an audience for his ego. This piece is “Judge Carlton Banks,” also available on The Family Court Circus.
(as featured on HBO Vice, NY Times, Bill Maher…)
Judge Aleric May of Birmingham, Alabama, was elected Judge in 2018 and in 2024. In 202,4 May received 174,000 votes, a 97% landslide victory. May ran unopposed as a Democrat in Birmingham. I guess the Republicans couldn’t find a qualified candidate to run against May. 4,200 votes went to write-in candidates. Judge May was recently admonished by US Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor. Sotomayor was not happy that Judge May held a juror in contempt for being a half hour late for jury duty. Judge Aleric will be up for reelection in the year 2031. If you are from Alabama, please don’t vote for this man. Vote for Judge Judy.
Birmingham was at the center of the civil rights movement with lynchings, bombings, violence, tear gas, attack dogs, fire hoses, and arrests. More than 3,000 people, including Dr. Martin Luther King, were arrested during the civil rights protests. The protests led to desegregation and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Would Judge May hold Dr. King in contempt for being 30 minutes late for court? The City of Birmingham is no longer officially segregated, but it is still about 70% African American in population. Nothing much has changed since the 1960s, other than the fact that the new people abusing their power are African Americans.
Although Justice Sotomayor had harsh words for Judge May, she refused to overturn the defendant Steven Mulkey’s guilty verdict: “During jury selection for a double capital murder trial, Judge May held a potential juror in contempt for being 30 minutes late to court and ordered him arrested. After Judge May ordered the tardy juror arrested, two potential jurors, who were questioned individually during voir dire, expressed fear of sharing their views about the case. One potential juror asked, ‘Will I be charged or thrown in jail?’ Another stated: ‘Well, I kind of based my opinion on what the Judge told me, because I don’t want to get in trouble for my beliefs.’ A judge’s conduct can have a profoundly negative impact on members of the jury pool. This danger is especially acute in a capital case such as this one, where the defendant’s life hangs in the balance.”
The Defendant Steven Mulkey, worked for an elderly couple who ran a motel, ie., Ching Kao and Sui Kao. Mulkey cut the grass for $50.00. One day, while Mulkey was cutting the grass, he ingested a gram of cocaine laced with crystal meth. He went to get his $50.00 from Ching, but Ching only offered him $20.00. Mulkey attacked Ching with a hammer, killing him. Sui tried to intervene, so Mulkey attacked her with a hammer, but she put up a fight, so Mulkey grabbed a knife and stabbed her to death. Mulkey’s defense was that he blacked out from the cocaine and crystal meth and doesn’t remember anything other than the fact that he asked to get paid $50 from Ching. Everything was captured on surveillance cameras. After Mulkey killed the couple, he took the safe from the motel, put the safe and the elderly couple in the trunk of his car, and fled. Eventually, the cops caught up to him. He was convicted of double murder.
During the sentencing phase of the trial,l the jury found that Mulkey deserved the death penalty. Mulkey’s attorney unsuccessfully argued on appeal that Mulkey didn’t get a fair sentencing hearing because Judge May had Mulkey shackled in front of the jurors in prison clothing while they pondered the imposition of the death penalty: “he was strapped in a rolling restraint chair, handcuffed and shackled at the feet, and held with what appeared to be seat belt clips which kept his arms down where he was basically just moving his head and neck which limited Mulkey’s ability to consult with counsel and prejudiced the jury against him.” Justice Sotomayor didn’t address whether Mulkey received a fair sentencing hearing.
Judge May stated his reasoning for shackling Mulkey: “Mr. Mulkey became combative with about four or five deputies that had to actually restrain and then take Mr. Mulkey into the jail. Throughout this case, there were multiple threats made to each and every personnel member in this courtroom. Mr. Mulkey went as far as threatening the life of his counsel, one who I had to allow to withdraw because of those threats. Threatened the prosecutor specifically. Threatened the Court specifically. At one point, Mulkey stated, ‘The Judge is going to be the new face of Black Lives Matter.’ It took me a while to understand what that meant, but I took that as a threat. I could not and would not take the chance that I allowed anyone’s life to be placed in danger or their safety to be placed at risk. Additionally, Mr. Mulkey was found in possession of a shank on the morning he was to testify.”
Steven Mulkey’s attorneys also argued on appeal that Judge May did not properly instruct the jury to consider the fact that Mulkey was in a psychotic, drug-induced state when he ingested a gram of cocaine laced with crystal meth. The Alabama Appellate Court found that Mulkey’s claim of drug-induced psychosis “was inconsistent with the surveillance footage of the murders, which showed Mulkey methodically kill the Kaos, drag the bodies to the back of the office in an apparent attempt to hide them, and then leave the scene…” Alabama rednecks on trial for double murder can’t seem to catch a break with a jury, unlike soccer moms from Duxbury, Massachusetts, who methodically strangle their three children and then jump out a window, claiming they were suffering from postpartum psychosis.
