Campaign seeks to remove controversial role-playing magistrate judge

FirstCircle@lemmy.ml to News@lemmy.world – 30 points – Campaign seeks to remove controversial role-playing magistrate judge on November Ballot
spokesman.com

A Kootenai County magistrate judge with numerous reprimands who appeared in court dressed as Darth Vader on Halloween is up for re-election in November. A campaign led by a former litigant of a divorce and custody case he oversaw in 2012 hopes to remove him.

Judge Clark A. Peterson, 57, was appointed to the bench in 2010 and has faced complaints over the years that his fantasy role-playing hobby interfered with his judicial work.

Campaign fliers call Peterson “Demon Lord” in reference to his former avatar: the demon prince Orcus, Lord of the Undead. He posted hundreds of comments on online fantasy message boards while at work, according to a 2013 Spokesman-Review story.

The judicial council’s investigation also looked into other allegations of misconduct by Peterson. On Halloween, he appeared in court dressed as Darth Vader, walking out from his chambers with Star Wars music playing on his cell phone.

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Stevens ran another campaign against Peterson in 2016, which she said was derailed by stolen yard signs and a mishap that prevented fliers from being distributed. She decided not to organize one during 2020 because of the pandemic. This year, Stevens said she is in a better position to organize a campaign.

What?

So you’re running against him, and you want to blame him because… you lost the last time you ran against him? And you’re angry that he plays tabletop role-playing games?

Stevens said she lost her house, tens of thousands of dollars and custody of her two children who are now grown because of how he mishandled her case.

It would be wonderful to hear more details about how he mishandled your case, and why you say it was mishandled. You could have spent column inches on that instead of on this:

Campaign fliers call Peterson “Demon Lord” in reference to his former avatar: the demon prince Orcus, Lord of the Undead. He posted hundreds of comments on online fantasy message boards while at work, according to a 2013 Spokesman-Review story.

Or this:

The county prosecutor’s office filed a sexual harassment complaint against Peterson last year on behalf of a female deputy prosecutor over her objection. She said she believed it was an accident.

According to the complaint, the deputy prosecutor knocked before walking in on Peterson changing into his gym clothes, despite his knowledge that she was on her way to deliver paperwork.

As funny as it is to picture in your head I don’t think it’s appropriate to wear a costume and do a funny bit when you may be deciding if someone gets to keep their children or lose their house. The other person involved sounds like an uptight liar, but I i think maybe all of these people kinda suck.