9th Circuit reprimands California judge who handcuffed, berated crying 13-year-old girl
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
The federal judge who has declared multiple California gun-control laws unconstitutional was reprimanded Wednesday by a judicial panel for ordering a drug defendant's 13-year-old daughter to enter the jury box, where the judge handcuffed her and warned her about the dangers of drugs.
The actions of U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez of San Diego would have the effect of "undermining the public's trust and confidence in the judiciary," a 12-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said in an order barring him from accepting new criminal cases for three years.
Benitez was appointed to the court by President George H.W. Bush in 2004. He is best known for a series of rulings that began in 2017, when he blocked enforcement of California’s ban on possessing guns that can hold more than 10 cartridges, saying it violated the constitutional right to bear arms for self-defense.
That law was reinstated by the 9th Circuit but is being reconsidered under standards set by the Supreme Court in 2022 that barred the government from restricting firearms unless the laws were part of the nation’s “historical tradition” of regulation, dating back to colonial times.
Read more: https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/9th-circuit-roger-benitez-19434108.php
Of course, George H.W. Bush had been out of office for 11 years in 2004. Judge Benitez was: "Nominated by George W. Bush on May 1, 2003, to a new seat authorized by 116 Stat. 1758. Confirmed by the Senate on June 17, 2004, and received commission on June 21, 2004."
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