Hamtramck City Council censures judge for scolding cancer patient

Hamtramck's City Council has censured the Hamtramck district judge who admonished a cancer patient earlier this month because of overgrown weeds near his home.

The judge issued an apology last week and said she voluntarily reported her behavior to the judicial tenure commission. On Tuesday, the council addressed the incident in a resolution pointing to the impact on the city's image.

In a unanimous vote, the six-member council approved a resolution, 5-0, that said "Judge Alexis Krot’s callous actions has shined a negative light on the city of Hamtramck." One councilman was not at the meeting during the vote.

During a Jan. 10 hearing, Krot, of 31st District Court in Hamtramck, blasted Burhan Chowdhury, 72, who has cancer, for having some overgrown weeds outside his Hamtramck home.

She threatened twice to jail him, saying he should be ashamed of himself, and fined him $100.

A video of the online hearing that was posted on social media showed Chowdhury appearing to wheeze and gasp for breath as he tried to explain to the judge he was ill. A son of Chowdhury said they had already cleaned up the weeds.

"I am a cancer patient, very old, ma'am," Chowdhury said. "I was then very weak. ... I cannot look after this thing."

The video drew widespread condemnation. A petition on Change.org calling for Krot's removal from the bench drew more than 255,000 signatures as of Wednesday afternoon.

The council's resolution noted that Hamtramck has "one of the most diverse populations of any city in the United States" and that "all of the residents of Hamtramck deserve fair and impartial treatment from the justice system."

Some residents and community advocates have said that the abuse of Chowdhury, who is a Muslim immigrant from Bangladesh, reflects a problem with city and judicial officials mistreating residents who are immigrants and minorities.

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More than 41% of the residents of Hamtramck are immigrants, the highest percentage of residents who are foreign-born among cities in Michigan. About half of the city is of Bangladeshi or Yemeni descent, according to census data.

In November, voters elected a City Council that is now entirely Muslim, with five out of six of them immigrants from either Bangladesh or Yemen. The mayor is also Muslim, and an immigrant from Yemen. It's believed to be the first all-Muslim government in the history of the U.S.

But despite the electoral success, most city officials and employees are white and sometimes unable to communicate properly with residents over issues like property maintenance, said some candidates during election campaigns last year. Minority residents feel they are harassed and targeted by city police or other city enforcement operations for costly tickets.

"Elected and appointed officials of the justice system should serve all residents of the City of Hamtramck regardless of their respective gender, sexual orientation, ethnic, racial and religious backgrounds and should set an example of how people of different backgrounds should interact with one another without regard to these characteristics," the council said in its resolution condemning Krot. "The city has numerous residents that are disabled, seniors, and/or fighting difficult diseases."

During the hearing, Krot said: "You should be ashamed of yourself. If I could give you jail time on this, I would."

The resolution said that Krot is "publicly censured for statements she made" and "is admonished to guard against making such biased and insensitive remarks in the future."

Krot could not be reached Wednesday for comment.

In her Jan. 20 apology, issued in a statement to the Detroit Free Press, Krot said called her admonishment of Chowdhury a mistake.

"I acted intemperately," she said. "I'm very embarrassed that I did so. I apologize to the person who appeared before me and to our entire community for having failed to meet the high standards that we expect of our judicial officers, and that I expect of myself."

During the City Council meeting after the resolution was passed, Hamtramck Mayor Amer Ghalib said: "I think the hottest topic for now and the most pressing issue is Judge Krot's issue.

"I've been getting so many emails from Hamtramck residents, from people outside of Hamtramck asking us to take action," he added. "And I think this is the most we can do here as a City Council and city government."

Contact Niraj Warikoo:nwarikoo@freepress.com or Twitter @nwarikoo

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Hamtramck council censures Judge for berating cancer patient