SHELBY COUNTY, Tenn. — The Shelby County Commission approved a resolution supporting public censure of Judge Jim Lammey on Monday, after controversial Facebook posts came to light.
The judge shared an article on his Facebook page that called Muslim immigrants “foreign mud” and demanded Jewish people get over the Holocaust.
The commission voted 12-0 in favor of a resolution that condemns the post, claiming thousands of Shelby County residents now question Lammey’s ability to be a fair judge.
Rabbi Katie Baumann of Temple Israel told the commission that the social media comments show a “staggering lack of understanding for his role as a judge.”
The resolution asks that the Tennessee Board of Judicial Review censure the judge because of the article that was written by David Cole, a Holocaust denier.
Lammey says he doesn’t agree with any of those comments and claims he was only interested in the article because it talks about golems, clay figures from Jewish legend that come to life through magic.
Criticism aside, Lammey, who’s been a criminal court judge since 2006, says everyone who comes into his courtroom gets a fair case.
“When people come into the courtroom I don’t know what religion they are. I don’t know what background they are. It doesn’t make any difference to me. I mean, I share a lot of stuff on Facebook. None of it has anything to do with my ability to be fair and impartial.”
