The state’s judicial watchdog agency entered new ethics charges against a Fulton County judge, saying that, among other things, she needlessly detained a 22-year-old woman during her parents’ divorce proceedings as a way to scold her for “daddy issues.”
The Judicial Qualifications Commission this week brought over a dozen more charges against Superior Court Judge Shermela Williams, saying it found reasonable cause to believe she committed additional instances of misconduct on the bench.
The 15 counts filed by the Judicial Qualifications Commission accuse Williams of delaying rulings in certain cases — sometimes for years — and detaining one woman “without any legal findings or justification” during her parents’ divorce case. Williams is also accused of calling an attorney on behalf of her uncle to request an extension in his contempt proceeding.
The latest round of ethics complaints comes in addition to the 17 charges brought against Williams last June, which accused the judge of mishandling cases and showing favoritism toward her sorority sister in a child custody case.
JQC Director Courtney Veal on Monday requested that another round of proceedings be instituted to determine whether Williams violated the Georgia Code of Judicial Conduct over the last four years on the bench and, if so, whether those violations amount to willful misconduct in office. Williams’ hearing on the first round of charges is scheduled to begin March 5, Veal said.
Williams was elected to the bench in 2020, and has been a judge since January 2021.
In a statement, Williams’ attorney, Gabe Banks, said the most recent charges brought by the JQC are not new.
“Why the JQC sat on this information and waited to file said charges on the eve of the final hearing is a question that the JQC will have to answer,” Banks wrote in an email. “While Judge Williams takes issue with the allegations, from the inception of the JQC’s initial inquiry back in 2022, she has attempted to resolve this matter. However, it appears that the only resolution the JQC is interested in is removal.”
The latest filing alleges Williams “lent the prestige of her office to advance the private interest of another” when she called an attorney on behalf of her uncle, who faced a contempt proceeding before a different judge.
During the April 2024 call, Williams told the attorney her uncle “was going through a difficult time,” and asked that she agree to an extension for her uncle to file a response in the case, according to the JQC complaint. She’s accused of telling the attorney that because she and other associates at her law firm were reasonable, they should “work something out.”
The judge is also accused of briefly locking up a young woman following her testimony in her parents’ divorce proceeding in the fall of 2023.
The woman testified she had a “strained relationship with her father” and admitted damaging things inside his apartment, according to the complaint.
Williams later interrupted the mother’s closing argument and instructed the woman’s daughter to stand up in the court, according to the JQC. She then instructed a deputy to put the young woman “in custody” and bring her to the front of the courtroom, where the judge questioned the witness in front of onlookers, the complaint alleges.
“Today you came here and admitted to … 36 years’ worth of prison on this stuff. Do you understand that?” Williams allegedly asked her. “And all for a divorce that had nothing to do with you, right?”
She instructed her deputy to show the woman “what the cell looks like,” and the 22-year-old was left in the courthouse holding cell for 30 to 45 minutes, according to the complaint.
After closing arguments, the judge instructed her deputy to bring the woman back out, where Williams allegedly lectured her about being responsible for her actions.
“Let me tell you something. I was a prosecutor for 10 years,” Williams told her, according to the JQC. “And let me tell you what I saw over and over again; girls who came in here with daddy issues they never even realized they had, but that’s how they ended up in certain situations …
“… And what you choose to do as far as your relationship with your dad, that’s on you, the judge reportedly told her. “That’s between you, your dad, and the good Lord.”
Banks said removing Williams from the bench is neither warranted nor merited.
“Removal would not only be inconsistent with the manner in which the JQC has resolved other cases, but it would also undermine the clear choice made by the citizens of Fulton County in the last election,” he said. “All Judge Williams wants and deserves is to be treated fairly. The same rules should apply to every judge. Most importantly, discipline should be meted out evenhandedly and should not be politically motivated.”
About the Author
Keep Reading
The Latest
Featured
