Ref Should Bench This Judge...

Perhaps the blindfolded lady justice emblazoned upon the emblems of almost every U.S. court is all that remains of our judicial system’s longstanding tenet of equality before law. While all U.S. judges supposedly pledge to decide cases based on integrity and impartiality, it appears that Washington County Circuit Judge Kennedy Boone must have recused himself from such a longstanding requirement and tradition.

Judge W. Kennedy Boone’s act of referring to three black lawyers as “the Supremes” serves as a stark reminder that society still breeds instances of both intentional and unintended racial and gender related inequalities, though such instances may now be more hidden. Though contemporary belief may sometimes hold that in this day and age, education serves as buffer for racial and gender related slights, Judge Kennedy Boone’s comment aimed at several African American women attorneys seems to prove otherwise. Despite his high level of academic achievement coupled with an oath pledged to do equal right to both the rich and poor while impartially performing his duties, Judge Boone is a living example of how society today still exhibits certain acts of microagression against individuals who differ from themselves.

While some may expect such behavior from ordinary citizens, it seems rather unfathomable that our nation’s very judges who are held with such high esteem can still spew such comments with little initial regard. Though this pour of outcry against the Judge’s behavior remains a testament to how far this country has come to reversing racial and gender related inequalities, it also exhibits the fact that we have yet to fully achieve true equality across the board and proves that there is still substantial work to be done.