When blowing off steam goes bad

As a writer, I don’t get stumped very often. When I do, it’s usually a doozy. This time is no exception.

Three Indiana judges were recently punished for getting into an altercation back in May. First off, why is this just now making national news? Second, how is it possible that three judges wound up doing the same thing they punish others for doing?

I know, nobody’s perfect and everybody makes mistakes. However, a judge is held to a higher standard than most people. They have to be unbiased and upholding the law to the fullest extent. If they didn’t, then how could they pass down judgement for a citizen breaking the law?

It takes years of education, and a certain type of person to become a judge. To know that you will probably be hated by the people you prosecute, has to be difficult.

All that being said, I will reiterate that a judge should hold themselves to a higher standard.

The three judges I mentioned earlier – Andrew Adams, Bradley B. Jacobs, and Sabrina R. Bell – were in Indianapolis for the Spring Judicial College. The trio decided to blow off a little steam and let their proverbial hair down.

Unfortunately for them, their night of fun would take a dark turn. The three judges decided that going to a strip club at 3:00 a.m. was a good idea – hence, the alcohol making their decisions for them.

To the trio’s dismay, the club was closed, so they decided to walk to a White Castle restaurant. While standing in the parking lot, a vehicle passed by and the passenger yelled something at the judges.

Bell flipped the guys off, and the two men pulled into the parking lot. After a few insults were thrown back and forth, a physical altercation ensued. Jacobs got the better of one of the men, and then a gun was added to the mix.

Alcohol, anger and weapons are never a good combination. Adams and Jacobs were both shot and had to undergo emergency surgery.

Adams was the only one of the trio who was charged with a crime, he pled guilty to misdemeanor battery. Even though he didn’t serve any jail time, he was subsequently suspended without pay for 60 days. The other two were suspended for 30 days without pay.

Bell was so intoxicated, she doesn’t remember the night, or what actually led up to the altercation. In a press release, Bell said she has an idea on what might have happened.

“I feel like this is all my fault,” she was reported saying to the detectives. She stated that the other two judges are protective of her and that is why they jumped in.

I hate to break it to her, but it kind of was her fault. It was her finger that escalated the entire situation.