A Las Vegas judge has been accused of jeopardizing the public's trust in her ruling through her social media posts, including sharing a photo of herself in a hot tub with two prosecutors.
“A judge must not create the impression or allow others to create the impression that a person or organization is capable of influencing him,” the Nevada Judicial Discipline Commission reminded last Wednesday when it filed charges against Judge Erika Ballou on Clark County District Court, Nevada.
Last week the judge was told she was being investigated for ethical breaches after she shared photos of herself breaching her code of conduct in 2021 and 2022.
In one of the posts, which could undermine public confidence in her impartiality, she is seen wearing a bikini in a hot tub with two other people, identified by the commission as public defenders Robson Hauers and Shauna Browers.
“Robson is surrounded by big breasts,” we can also read in the publication attached by the Commission and shared by several American media outlets.
In the second controversial post, the judge allegedly shared a selfie of herself at a festival with the caption, “Life is STILL good even though Billie Eilish isn't starting for 30 minutes and I'm starting at 8:30 tomorrow morning.”
PHOTO FROM A JUDGMENT OF THE NEVADA COMMISSION ON JUDICIAL DISCIPLINE
To this, she allegedly added the hashtag “VacateTheS–tOuttaOutofCustodyCases,” which essentially meant that she would rush to get cases released from custody as quickly as possible.
The judge was already the subject of a call for her resignation from the Las Vegas Police Protective Association, the metropolitan police union, over anti-police comments she allegedly made in the courtroom, the New York Post reported Wednesday.
“You made the decision not to run from the police. You are a black man in America. You know you don't want to be where the police are […] because I know myself that I don't want to [être là où il y a des flics] […] because I don’t know whether I’ll get out alive or not,” the judge would have argued in 2022.
The union publicly called for his resignation on the X platform.
“Hey, judge, you’re a disgrace to the judiciary. You have dishonored the dress you wear. “You must resign immediately,” he tweeted, according to American media.
The date for the judge's public hearing has yet to be set.