A Michigan judge is apologizing after a video of her scolding a cancer patient over an overgrown lawn in court went viral.
“I made a mistake,” Judge Alexis Krot wrote in a statement. “I acted intemperately. I’m very embarrassed that I did so. I apologize to the person who appeared before me and to our entire community for having failed to meet the high standards that we expect of our judicial officers, and that I expect of myself.”
Krot says that when someone who appears before her makes a mistake, she expects them to own up to it. She expressed that she expects no less from herself. The judge said she self-reported her conduct to the state commission that reviews judicial misconduct.
The Hamtramck District Court Judge faced a great deal of backlash and media attention for her comments during a virtual court hearing last week. Burhan Chowdhury, 72, appeared before Krot to answer a ticket issued in August over his unkempt lawn. Chowdhury, a cancer patient, told her that he was too sick and too weak to care for his yard.
“You should be ashamed of yourself,” Krot said to Chowdhury. “If I could give you jail time on this, I would.”
Krot levied a $100 fine against Chowdhury and threatened jail time if he appeared before her again.
Since the video went viral, a petition was created on Change.org asking to remove the judge from the court. It has garnered nearly 250,000 signatures and is one of the most popular on the website.
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