Feds Scrutinize Cases of Judge Who Hooked Up With Stripper, Drugs
Dec. 2, 2010
Allan Lengel
AOL News
There's more fallout from the case of a federal judge in Atlanta who pleaded guilty last month to buying drugs for a stripper who became his mistress after they met at the Goldrush Show Bar.
U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates announced in Atlanta today that her office is investigating whether any of the cases U.S. District Judge Jack Camp handled were influenced by the use of drugs or racial bias.
"From May of 2010 forward, there is evidence that Camp's judicial decision-making process may have been impacted by bias and/or impairment, and it has been established that he was involved in criminal conduct during this period," Yates said in a statement. "Therefore, we will not object to a defendant's request for a resentencing in any case in which the defendant was sentenced during this time."
Yates said a woman -- referred to only as "Witness 1" -- alleged that Camp, 67, used drugs, expressed racial bias about court cases and used a racial epithet in private. Her office declined to confirm that Witness 1 was the stripper Camp had an affair with, though court documents show that the stripper cooperated with investigators, which resulted in Camp's arrest in October and his eventual downfall.
On Nov. 19, Camp pleaded guilty to aiding a felon in possessing illegal drugs, possessing illegal drugs and giving his government-issued laptop to the stripper. He has resigned as a federal judge, which is lifetime presidential appointment. Sentencing is set for March 4.
Authorities said the probe revealed that from May to September, Camp used marijuana, cocaine, Xanax, Roxicontin and other painkillers.
"While Camp's use of these drugs was not limited to weekends, he denies that he used any of these drug contemporaneously with any court business, and we are currently unaware of any demonstrable evidence to the contrary," Yates said. "We have not discovered evidence of illegal drug use prior to May 2010."
Yates said the second area of the Justice Department inquiry involves allegations by the witness that Camp showed racial biases that spilled over into court, an accusation Camp denied when confronted.
The witness alleged that Camp told her that he disliked an African-American man who had a relationship with her, Yates said.
"Camp told her that when African-American men appeared before him, he had a difficult time adjudicating their cases and specifically determining their sentences" because he could not differentiate them from the man he disliked, Yates said.
The cooperating witness also told authorities that Camp sentenced a black male to 30 to 40 years because he had a personal relationship with a white woman, which reminded him of the relationship the African-American man had with the stripper...
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STATEMENT REGARDING DECEMBER 2, 2010 LETTER FROM
U.S. ATTORNEY SALLY QUILLIAN YATES
CONCERNING FORMER U.S. JUDGE JACK CAMP
For over 20 years Jack Camp served as a Federal judge and presided over hundreds of cases with fair, unbiased attention to the law. Fairness was the cornerstone of his career on the bench, and his record remains clear in this regard.
Jack Camp has fully cooperated with Federal authorities regarding the unfortunate circumstances of his life that led to his recent retirement from the bench, and his decision to plead guilty to misdemeanor charges and one count of aiding and abetting another’s drug possession.
Mr. Camp has fully cooperated with the government’s request that he be examined and tested for drug use. That test was negative. Mr. Camp was also tested by a private professional clinic; that test also returned negative for presence of controlled substances.
Jack Camp will defend any decision he has rendered where a defendant may assert any sort of impairment or bias. While Mr. Camp understands the government must take appropriate steps to ensure our judicial system is free of bias, none occurred in Judge Camp’s courtroom. Again, Jack Camp has assisted the government in this review to the fullest degree possible.
Mr. Camp is taking responsibility for his actions, and continues to cooperate with authorities with regard to the wrongful nature of his behavior.
Mr. Camp agrees with Ms. Yates’ affirmation that our system of justice depends upon a defendants’ right to a fair, impartial, and an unimpaired jurist to administer justice. He agrees with the decision by the U.S. Attorney to take a broad view in this matter, and welcomes the opportunity to further cooperate with the government, and resolve this unfortunate chapter in his life.
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