Should those who decide the law be above the law?

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel...

An advocacy group is calling for Broward Circuit Judge Lawrence Korda to be removed from the bench because he was charged with misdemeanor possession of marijuana after Hollywood police said they caught him smoking pot Sunday afternoon in a city park.

The Fort Lauderdale chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People filed a complaint Tuesday with the state judicial watchdog agency, the Judicial Qualifications Commission....

"No judge should violate the laws we all share," said Marsha Ellison, president of the Fort Lauderdale NAACP. "When you have a judge who is not supposed to be above the law, he should follow the law... It's a poor example for everyone else."...

Korda was near about 15 children and a sign designating Stanley Goldman Memorial Park a drug-free zone when three Hollywood police officers saw him smoking marijuana on Sunday afternoon, according to a police report released Tuesday. Korda, 59, was issued a ticket for misdemeanor marijuana possession in the park, about a mile from his Hollywood home....

"With all the problems going on on the bench, who cares if he's smoking a joint?" said Fred Haddad, a defense attorney and a friend of Korda for more than 30 years.

I'm not sure what dog the NAACP has in this fight, but in this case, they're right. Not only should judges be under the law, but they have a duty to be above reproach. The man should be removed from the bench. Then again Florida has Judge "Kill the Cripples!!" Greer still on the bench, as well as the Florida Supreme Court which decided to spit on the law and personally sit Al Gore in the White House in 2000, so why should they be bothered by a pot-head. But then again, maybe that's exactly where their current problem started--letting the "little things" slide.

And if memory serves me correctly, isn't this the same state that tried to crucify Rush Limbaugh for having too many prescription?

UPDATE: I just discovered that Judge Korda is on the Board of Advisors for "The Starting Place" which calls itself, "A substance abuse and behavioral health agency". Their website boasts, "one of the most comprehensive licensed substance abuse programs in South Florida and is renowned for its success in the treatment of adolescents." It will be interesting to see how they explain the behavior of one of the board of advisor members. Seems to me their effectiveness has been seriously compromised by the judge's hypocrisy.

Posted by Danny Carlton at March 21, 2007 6:31 AM