The state Commission of Judicial Conduct has ordered a 68-year-upstate judge removed from the bench after a lengthy inquiry into a letter he wrote to a motorist he addressed as “Kikie.”
Judge Morgan Bloodgood of Malta, in Sarasota County, has 30 days to appeal the ruling and presumably will continue serving in his $21,000 a year part-time position pending the outcome of the appeal according to a report by Gerald Stern, commission administrator, in a telephone interview with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Stern declared, after the commission’s investigation, that the Judge’s behavior was “shocking.”
Judge Bloodgood wrote a letter in April, 1979 to David Rosenblum, a Pennsylvania motorist picked up by state police for speeding. Rosenblum pleaded guilty by mail and sent a personal check for $15 dollars to Judge Bloodgood, but then stopped payment.
Judge Bloodgood said he had made good on the check himself. He said he then wrote to Rosenblum declaring he would notify officials in both New York and Pennsylvania that Rosenblum was a scofflaw. The judge added, “It is a shame that people like you make it difficult to trust anyone else.”
Help ensure Jewish news remains accessible to all. Your donation to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency powers the trusted journalism that has connected Jewish communities worldwide for more than 100 years. With your help, JTA can continue to deliver vital news and insights. Donate today.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
