Posted 8:26 PM by Creditwrench

Judge Loses His Job
For Being Rude

County Official Tells Public Defender To 'Lose His Accent'

LOS ANGELES -- A Contra Costa County judge has become the first California judge in recent years to lose his job because of rudeness.

The Supreme Court unanimously turned down a request by Superior Court judge Bruce Van Voorhis to reconsider the decision to remove him from office.

The Commission on Judicial Performance ordered his removal after finding 11 acts of misconduct between June 1999 and December 2000.

They included telling a public defender to "lose his accent," ruling against a rookie prosecutor to see how she handled it and throwing a stack of files at a court clerk.

The 54-year old Van Voorhis has been suspended with pay since the order.

The former Alameda County prosecutor was elected to the bench in 1986 and re-elected in 1992 and 1998.