A Las Vegas judge was convicted of posting a photo of her in a hot tub with two public defenders.
Erika Ballou sparked an ethics investigation after she shared the picture on Facebook with the caption: “Robson is surrounded by great t*ts.”
The picture showed her in a swimsuit with Shana Brouwers and Robson Hauser, with the latter smiling at the camera shirtless.
The latter appeared to stand by her stance by penning profanity-ridden Cardi B lyrics that included the line: “From making tuna sandwiches to making the news.”
The Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline has now filed a formal indictment against Clark County District Court Judge Erika Ballou (left) for this hot tub post in which she poses with Robson Hauser (center) and Shana Brouwer (right).
Las Vegas Judge Erika Ballou is under scrutiny for ethics violations after she shared a photo on Facebook in a hot tub with two Clark County public defenders
The Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline filed a formal indictment against Ballou for the hot tub publication.
The commission also filed a second complaint for a second social media post suggesting that the cases of defendants who are not in custody should be dismissed.
That post said, “Life is STILL good, despite the fact that Billie Eilish doesn't start for another 30 minutes and I have an 8:30 a.m. calendar tomorrow.”
The post included the hashtags “Vacatethe[Explitive]“OuttaOutofCustodyCases” and “WhereInTheWorldisCarmenSanDiego.”
In the Whirlpool submission, the commission accuses Ballou of violating basic rules that require a judge to enhance public trust and avoid impropriety.
The commission says a judge's duties should be placed above his personal and extrajudicial activities to maintain the appearance of impartiality.
Ballou makes over $155,000 a year — although her total salary and benefits top $262,000, according to Transparent Nevada, a website that tracks state employee salaries.
A second complaint was filed for that Instagram post, suggesting that defendants who are not in custody should have their cases dismissed
The Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline says a judge's duties should be placed above his or her personal and extrajudicial activities to maintain the appearance of impartiality
In a second case, the commission also alleges that the Facebook post shows that Ballou again violated the same three rules, which require judges to promote public trust, avoid impropriety and not engage in activities that appear to be so could appear to jeopardize the independence, integrity or impartiality of the judge.
So far, Ballou has responded to her potential disciplinary charges with lyrics from a Cardi B song, including the words: “Get money, go hard, you're damn right.”
A hearing has not yet been scheduled for the judge, who will be sworn in in January 2021.
So far, Ballou has responded to her potential disciplinary allegations with lyrics from a Cardi B song, including the words: “Get money, go hard, you're motherf***** right,” 8NewsNow reports.
“From making tuna sandwiches to writing messages,” Ballou posted on Facebook this weekend, using the song's lyrics, according to the news outlet.
“Get money, go hard, you're damn right.” I've never been a cheater in my damn life. Get money, go hard, damn it, right. Stunt on that idiot out of fucking spite.'
Calls for Ballou's resignation also emerged in July 2022 after she brazenly told a criminal in her courtroom that she didn't know if she would “get away alive” from the police.
Judge Ballou told a defendant he should have walked away from officers after he was arrested for assault on an officer in Nevada while on probation.
In 2022, the judge was branded “biased” against law enforcement, leading to her being asked to resign after comments made toward a defendant that were “unethical and irresponsible.”
The Las Vegas Police Protective Association, the union that represents metropolitan police officers, called for an ethics investigation.
“Hey Judge, you are a disgrace to the bench,” the police union tweeted at the time. “You have dishonored the garment you wear. “You must resign immediately.”
At that time, Ballou had contacted a defendant who was on probation and charged with assault on a public servant.
“You are the one who makes the decision not to avoid the police.” You are a black man in America. “You know you don’t want to be somewhere where the police are,” Ballou said at the time.
“You know you don't want to be anywhere there are cops because I know that's not the case and I'm a middle-aged, middle-class black woman.” I don't want to be around the police because I I don't know whether I'll make it out alive or not. You know that.' She said.
Judge Ballou reduced the man's prison sentence from the original 24 to 60 months to 19 to 48 months.
She added: “Even if the police officer came after you and harassed your group, you should have walked away instead of staying.”
The judge has made controversial statements in the past
Judge Erika Ballou has made headlines several times in recent years because she made controversial statements or rulings in her court.
In June 2022, Katie Moriarty claimed a COVID infection messed with Ballou's mind after she was sentenced to 364 days in prison on top of the 364 days for a reckless traffic accident.
Moriarty told the Nevada Current, “Judge Ballou suffered from COVID and was unable to appear in person on the day of my sentencing (and made it clear) that she was incapable of making such important decisions.”
Meanwhile, Ballou raised eyebrows in January 2021 after he cried at the sentencing of a teenage serial criminal.
Jailing armed robber Javier Torres-Murillo, 17, for up to five years, Ballou sobbed: “I hope you see how hard it is for me to kill someone as young as you and I hope You think about it every day because I…” “I’ll probably think about it every day for the rest of my life.”
“You had to walk away because you knew you were on parole, you knew it.”
The LLVP, which represents Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department officers, called on her to resign over the comments.
A spokesman said: “On behalf of the men and women of law enforcement, the Las Vegas Police Protective Association objects to Judge Erika Ballou's derogatory comments about police officers.”
“We are calling on Judge Ballou to resign from his position.” We are also asking the Judicial Ethics Commission to discipline her for violating the Nevada Code of Judicial Conduct.
“Among other duties, the rules require the judiciary to:”[A]“strive at all times to conduct themselves in a way that ensures the greatest possible public confidence in their independence, impartiality, integrity and competence.”
“Judge Ballou has shown that she is biased against law enforcement and cannot meet the demands of a lawyer.”
“Judge Ballou's comments from the bench that she 'doesn't want to be around the police because I don't know if I'm going to make it out alive or not…' are both unethical and irresponsible.”
“Police officers and the law-abiding citizens of our community deserve better from the justice system.”
Judge Ballou was elected as a judge in November 2020 and took office in January 2021. She previously served as an assistant public defender for the Clark County Public Defender's Office for 15 years.
Her term of office runs until 2027.
She was also caught on camera becoming emotional while sentencing a repeat juvenile offender in January 2022.
The perpetrator already had eight armed robbery charges, with Judge Ballou telling him she would “think about it every day” for the rest of her life.
In 2016, while working as a public defender, Erika Ballou refused to remove the “Black Lives” button from her blouse, despite a judge's request
In 2016, Ballou refused to remove her “BLM” badge from her blouse when asked to do so by Clark County District Court Judge Douglas Herndon. She said at the time: “In a free country I shouldn’t be afraid of the police, but I am.”
Before becoming a judge, Ballou was also a social justice activist and a member of the Democratic Socialists of America.
She also got in trouble after refusing to remove a Black Lives Matter pin in court in September 2016 while still working as an assistant public defender.
Clark County District Court Judge Douglas Herndon ordered her to remove the badge from her blouse while representing a white domestic battery defendant at a sentencing hearing.
However, she later accepted that she would not be allowed to wear the pin as courtrooms should be “viewpoint neutral”.
At the time, Ballou said she knew wearing her pin would be controversial after the Las Vegas police union sent a letter to judges complaining about what the union leader called “Black Lives Matter propaganda” in courtrooms “ referred to.
In a statement she said: “In a free country I shouldn't be afraid of the police, but I am.”
Court officials say Judge Douglas W. Herndon (pictured) is responsible for upholding the rules of decency, appropriate dress and dignity and asked Ballou to remove her Black Lives Matter pin
The pin, the judge said, “makes a political statement: 'I wear it in protest at the way the court treats minority defendants.'
“Wear it in the hallway. Wear it outside the courthouse,” Herndon added. 'Show. Protest. Use your voice. But that’s not what it’s about when dealing with justice in an individual case.”
Ballou, a self-described middle-aged, middle-income woman, said she feared for her life when she was surrounded by four Nevada Highway Patrol officers during a traffic stop.
In Las Vegas, race in the criminal justice system has been a controversial topic in recent years.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department received an audit from the U.S. Department of Justice's Community Oriented Policing Services Division and began making a series of policy changes in 2013 after reviewing officer-involved shootings for several years.
The seven-month COPS review examined 87 cases of fatal use of force by police from 2007 to 2012. Of those, 10 involved unarmed people, including seven African Americans.