Texas judge 'punished' after Facebook post recommending the lynching of a Black defendant

Judge James Oakley for Burnet County, Texas.

Late last year, Judge James Oakley came under fire for a public Facebook comment recommending lynching a Black man accused of killing a San Antonio police officer. He quickly apologized and said that his remarks had nothing to do with race. Yeah, right.

The Austin American-Statesman reports:

A Burnet County judge who wrote it’s “time for a tree and a rope” in reference to a black man accused of killing a police officer, told the State Commission on Judicial Conduct that the remark was a reference to a 1980s salsa commercial.

The commission didn’t buy it.

Judge James Oakley received a formal reprimand from the commission last week, concluding he “cast reasonable doubt on his capacity to act impartially,” and willfully acted in a way that discredited the judiciary. He will be required to complete a 30-hour training program for new judges and participate in four hours of racial sensitivity training with a mentor.

Honestly, this man needs way more than four hours of training because, unsurprisingly, Oakley’s racism goes beyond that one Facebook comment. In fact, it’s so ingrained in him that he even made racist remarks when he appeared in front of the Commission. His public reprimand states:

During the appearance, Judge Oakley made certain statements that indicated to the Commission that he could benefit from racial sensitivity training with a mentoring judge.

Sounds like Judge Oakley is better off with a new job — not a few hours of training.