The notorious case of the (former) judge and her 500 courtroom texts
If you’ve noticed a growing trend of life imitating Monty Python, you are not alone. From the House Freedom Caucus doing a great impression of the British comedy group’s “Argument Clinic” to tech bros recalling their life struggles like the “Four Yorkshiremen,” evidence is everywhere.
But now, reality has out-Pythoned Python, whose “High Court” skit proffered a behind-the-scenes look at the supposedly dignified judges' snarky, running commentary about the cases before them: “Oh, I've had such a morning in the High Court. I could stamp me little feet the way those attorneys carry on.”
Oklahoma judge had better things to do than murder trial
To that, an Oklahoma judge said, hold my beer. According to The Washington Post, former (note the word “former”) Judge Traci Soderstrom was caught red-iPhoned, exchanging 500 text messages during a murder trial that offered a caustic running commentary of the proceedings.
The Post wrote, “As the murder trial for a man accused of beating a toddler to death began in June, the thoughts of the Oklahoma judge overseeing the case allegedly drifted to the appearance of the prosecutor: ‘Why does he have baby hands? … They are so weird looking,’ she texted the bailiff, according to a court petition filed against her.”
You understand that judges are human, and probably have all kinds of unspoken opinions concerning the people who appear in their courtrooms. But usually they don’t put it in print,
Soderstrom texted that the prosecutor “is sweating through his coat. (The jury) is going to hate him.” And of the defense attorney, “She’s awesome, can I clap for her?”
I guess I’m just from another time. I wanted to think that the American judiciary was the one last institution that was immune from employing the word “awesome.”
Other non-judicial language, the Post wrote, included texts of “liar liar” and commentary on the prosecutor’s genitalia. “Soderstrom’s alleged texts, which include emojis, commented on the appearances of others in the courtroom, as well,” the Post wrote. “She wondered if one juror was wearing a wig, questioned if a witness had teeth …”
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This is awful. This is terrible. Who does she think she is, a journalist? She’s horning in on our turf. Because this sounds exactly like the running commentary you hear in the press pool. Or used to, anyway.
In Annapolis, there used to be a state delegate who looked exactly like Fred Flintstone, and every time he got up to speak the reporter from the Post would mutter “Willlma!” under his breath, and the rest of the press crew was off and running. It got really hard to take notes sometimes, you’d be laughing so hard.
We didn’t have cellphones then, which was probably a blessing. Poor Judge Soderstrom wasn’t so lucky. Nor was she lucky enough to live in a world without ubiquitous surveillance cameras, which produced images of her texting behind the bench.
After being accused of gross neglect of duty, gross partiality and oppression in office, lack of proper temperament and failure to supervise her office, the judge resigned, saying she was sorry, sort of.
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“When I took the judicial oath on January 9th, 2023, I promised to uphold the Constitution in a fair, even-handed and efficient manner,” Soderstrom said in her statement. “In spite of resistance at nearly every turn, I believe that I have done so. However, being human, I have also faltered.”
No, faltering is dropping a dozen eggs. Five hundred texts is “what was she thinking?” territory.
My grandpa was a witty judge, and it’s probably best he lived in pre-tech days. He reveled in witness testimony, including the classic: “It was a man — no, a woman. Well, one of the two.” When attorneys transgressed the bounds of what a reasonable judge should have to endure, his strategy was to assume a stony countenance that said, “I ain’t sayin’ nothin’, but you know what I’m thinkin.’
If she had a similar philosophy, Soderstrom would still be judge.
Tim Rowland is a Herald-Mail columnist.
This article originally appeared on Salisbury Daily Times: 500 texts during murder trial? What was this (former) judge thinking?
