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Tennessee commission votes to censure judge over anti-Jewish posts

“Judge Jim Lammey’s use of social media to spread racist and anti-Semitic articles breaches the public trust,” says U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, a Jewish Memphis Democrat.

By World Israel News Staff

County commissioners in Tennessee have voted in support of censuring a criminal court judge who posted links to anti-immigration articles and anti-Jewish conspiracy theories on social media, according to the Associated Press and local media reports.

The Commercial Appeal newspaper reported that the Shelby County Commission voted Monday in favor of a resolution to ask the Tennessee Board of Judicial Conduct to issue a letter finding judicial misconduct against Criminal Court Judge Jim Lammey.

The Memphis judge reportedly posted multiple anti-immigration articles on Facebook. One article by David Cole tells Jews to “get the f— over the Holocaust” and calls Muslim immigrants “foreign mud.”

Judge Lammey wrote a letter to the commission saying “I adamantly deny the characterization of me by the local media and certain interest groups as being a Holocaust Denier, anti-immigrant and racist.”

“My best friend — who’s deceased now — was Jewish and I wouldn’t do that,” he reportedly said.

The County Commission does not have the power to remove Mr. Lammey as a judge, notes the Daily Memphian newspaper, but commissioners wanted to rebuke Mr. Lammey for his comments. Ten of the 13 commissioners sponsored the resolution.

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The resolution to censure Judge Lammey was presented after a coalition of more than a dozen organizations – including Jewish Community Partners, American Muslim Advocacy Council, the NAACP, Latino Memphis, and the Anti-Defamation League – condemned the judge. The coalition has also filed a complaint with the Tennessee Board of Judicial Conduct, calling for a public censure of Mr. Lammey.

U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, a Memphis Democrat who is Jewish, also released a statement Monday condemning Judge Lammey’s actions.

“The public’s trust in our judicial system is paramount and such faith, once breached, is hard to rebuild,” Rep. Cohen said, in a statement published in the Daily Memphian.

“Judge Jim Lammey’s use of his social media accounts to spread racist and anti-Semitic articles and memes breaches the public trust. Judge Lammey should be held accountable,” said the U.S. congressman.