In reaction to the overwhelming anger over an experienced judge’s judgment to have a 13-year-old girl arrested in his courtroom, the Ninth Circuit has opened a judicial conduct inquiry.
According to the punishment letter for accused Mario Puente, senior U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez, a George W. Bush appointee who earlier caused controversy by comparing an AR-15 to a Swiss Army Knife when striking down California’s abuse weapon restriction, instructed the victim’s daughter to be cuffed on February 13.
According to the documents, the father has a past of drug problems and has completed two treatment courses. He confessed breaking the terms of his supervised release during the hearing to cancel it.
At a session before Judge Benitez, Puente reportedly delivered an emotional speech based on the defendant’s attorney, a federal public prosecutor, Mayra Lopez. Benitez, though, allegedly attempted to threaten the 13-year-old girl by asking her to be handcuffed when the father expressed concern that his daughter would someday stray from the right path.
