509
submitted 10 months ago by jeffw@lemmy.world to c/news@lemmy.world

Highlights: In 2015, upstate New York judge Robert J. Putorti was overseeing a court hearing involving a Black defendant. Nothing out of the ordinary for a judge to do right? Except, when a Black man approached the stand “too quickly,” Judge Putorti pulled a loaded gun on him in court.

Recently, this led to a review from the New York State Court of Appeals, where they discovered that Putorti would often brag about the incident and would recall the race and stature of the defendant when he would tell the story of the incident to others, according to the Associated Press.

Specifically, Putorti described the defendant to another judge as being a “big black man” who is the same height as LeBron James (6’9”). He also described him as being built “like a football player.” But in reality, the defendant was built more like Allen Iverson, coming in at six feet tall and only weighing 165 pounds.

Putorti’s termination was also made easier by the fact that he participated in fundraising events that were illegal for New York State judges to attend. This occurred while he was being investigated for the loaded gun incident.

all 43 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[-] SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 148 points 10 months ago

And it only took eight years! I wonder how many other lives that racist ruined in the meantime.

[-] PunnyName@lemmy.world 66 points 10 months ago

And he probably would have gotten away with it if it weren't for those pesky financial crimes he committed.

[-] Sharkwellington@lemmy.one 29 points 10 months ago

I can excuse racism, but I draw the line at financial crimes!

[-] MrBusiness@lemmy.zip 3 points 10 months ago
[-] Usul_00_@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago
[-] PunnyName@lemmy.world 5 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)
[-] affiliate@lemmy.world 7 points 10 months ago

no way 2015 was 8 years ago. three is the highest i’ll go

[-] Reality_Suit@lemmy.one 2 points 10 months ago

Every time I hear a story like this, I ask the same questions. Butterfly effect: What led up to this?

[-] TheDoozer@lemmy.world 85 points 10 months ago

Is pointing a gun at an unarmed person who is offering no threat to you not brandishing? Is that not a crime? Do crimes that happen in a courtroom not count as crimes?

It's not justice that he was fired years later. If he's not charged that is blatant, unmitigated corruption.

[-] GBU_28@lemm.ee 20 points 10 months ago

Very few crimes are crimes if you crime them while being a judge

[-] some_designer_dude@lemmy.world 3 points 10 months ago

Or being white. A white judge, though, is basically untouchable. He’s on track for the Supreme Court, probably.

[-] lolcatnip@reddthat.com 19 points 10 months ago

Crimes committed by authority figures don't count.

[-] SheeEttin@lemmy.world 18 points 10 months ago

In NY, it's called menacing, and it's a crime.

[-] Potatos_are_not_friends@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago
[-] TheDoozer@lemmy.world 9 points 10 months ago

A jury? And a different judge to preside over the case?

[-] Natanael@slrpnk.net 3 points 10 months ago

Lots of places require appointed judges to have a law license, so the bar has power

[-] dhork@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

I think this guy was an elected town judge, though, and in NY State town and village judges do not have to be lawyers, but if they are not they need training (and to pass a test) before they can hear cases.

[-] shalafi@lemmy.world 1 points 10 months ago

Clearly brandishing. You're not seeing my gun unless I've judged there is no other way to stop you from harming me or someone else. And if it's gone that far? I'm shooting to kill. Full. Fucking. Stop.

Guns are the option of absolute last resort. This kind of bullshit deserves time in a concrete and steel box with gun rights forever revoked.

[-] Nudding@lemmy.world 6 points 10 months ago

Lmao, Americans are so scared of every day situations they need guns to feel safe when they go to Walmart

[-] CascadianGiraffe@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago

Have you been to a Walmart though?

[-] hiddengoat@kbin.social 78 points 10 months ago

"THAT GUY WAS NINE FEET TALL!"
"He was 5'5"."
"BUT HE WAS BLACK THAT'S BIGGER IN BLACK FEET!"

Racism is an inferiority complex with a different name.

[-] LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.world 5 points 10 months ago

Dude got fired for another illegal act while they were investigating the loaded fun incident. Jeez. That guy was a winner

[-] vaultdweller013@sh.itjust.works 4 points 10 months ago

"That's bigger in black feet!" Is gonna be a new joke for my friend once I use it on him.

[-] LemmysMum@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Bigotry is self harm. Only thing hurting a bigot is their imagination.

[-] jmsy@lemmy.world 0 points 10 months ago

Their "knee grows" is the hackneyed joke that fits

[-] ZeroCool@feddit.ch 32 points 10 months ago

If this sounds like the behavior of some hick from a single-traffic light town that's because that's exactly what he is. According to the AP article about this case he's from Whitehall which is a town in upstate NY near Glens Falls with 4k residents. Just another reminder to avoid Upstate.

[-] hiddengoat@kbin.social 6 points 10 months ago

NYC just needs to split off and form their own state. With blackjack. And hook... wait, they already have those...

[-] dhork@lemmy.world 4 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

If Upstate separated itself from NYC, everything north of the Tappan Zee would go bankrupt faster than you can say "Rural Blight"

[-] lolcatnip@reddthat.com 3 points 10 months ago

But they'd get two Senators!

[-] lntl@lemmy.ml 28 points 10 months ago

pointed a loaded gun at someone? fuck this guy

[-] TheTimeKnife@lemmy.world 24 points 10 months ago

Glad this jackass is finally suffering some of the consequences he greatly deserves.

[-] TheRealLinga@sh.itjust.works 13 points 10 months ago

I bet Trump is wishing this guy was his judge. They would get along great!

[-] foggy@lemmy.world 3 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Yo how is this editor gonna throw subtle shade at AI like that?

Talkin bout practice, man. Not a game... Practice.

this post was submitted on 21 Oct 2023
509 points (99.0% liked)

News

22507 readers
3900 users here now

Welcome to the News community!

Rules:

1. Be civil


Attack the argument, not the person. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Good faith argumentation only. This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban.


2. All posts should contain a source (url) that is as reliable and unbiased as possible and must only contain one link.


Obvious right or left wing sources will be removed at the mods discretion. We have an actively updated blocklist, which you can see here: https://lemmy.world/post/2246130 if you feel like any website is missing, contact the mods. Supporting links can be added in comments or posted seperately but not to the post body.


3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.


Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.


4. Post titles should be the same as the article used as source.


Posts which titles don’t match the source won’t be removed, but the autoMod will notify you, and if your title misrepresents the original article, the post will be deleted. If the site changed their headline, the bot might still contact you, just ignore it, we won’t delete your post.


5. Only recent news is allowed.


Posts must be news from the most recent 30 days.


6. All posts must be news articles.


No opinion pieces, Listicles, editorials or celebrity gossip is allowed. All posts will be judged on a case-by-case basis.


7. No duplicate posts.


If a source you used was already posted by someone else, the autoMod will leave a message. Please remove your post if the autoMod is correct. If the post that matches your post is very old, we refer you to rule 5.


8. Misinformation is prohibited.


Misinformation / propaganda is strictly prohibited. Any comment or post containing or linking to misinformation will be removed. If you feel that your post has been removed in error, credible sources must be provided.


9. No link shorteners.


The auto mod will contact you if a link shortener is detected, please delete your post if they are right.


10. Don't copy entire article in your post body


For copyright reasons, you are not allowed to copy an entire article into your post body. This is an instance wide rule, that is strictly enforced in this community.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS