The Judge and the Stripper
Oklahoma County divorce judge Michael Chionopoulos has resigned after a majority of the county's district judges voted to replace him following allegations of inappropriate behavior with female attorneys, female law students and women with cases before him.
One of the more shocking allegations is that Judge Chionopoulos ordered a female stripper in a child-custody case to deliver to him personally the results of drug tests every Friday.
Steven Holden, the woman's attorney, was quoted in the media as stating:
"He took her into his office by himself. It's unethical.
No other judge I've ever met would ask a litigant into his office and close
the door and spend two hours with them while a case is ongoing or afterward,
ever."
Media reports indicated that several female attorneys reported that Judge
Chionopoulos would call them repeatedly on their cellular phones, and
sometimes late at night. One female attorney, Michelle Roper, was
quoted in the media as stating:
"It was just kind of weird. A lot of phone calls, I avoided.
The latest one from my cell phone records was 10:30 on a Friday night.
Other attorneys reported that the judge acted too familiar and flirty with female attorneys and that Chionopoulos treated female attorneys more harshly than male attorneys. Media reports quoted attorney Doug Merritt as saying, "It was strange."
Commentary and Opinion
It must be pointed out that Judge Chionopoulos has not been accused of any criminal conduct. Thus far the allegations only allege inappropriate behavior. Inappropriate behavior, which if true, is in the opinion of this writer stupid beyond belief and indicative of a 'dirty old man', if not an outright criminal.
When we as a society entrust judicial authority to anyone, either by way of the ballot box or through appointment by others duly elected, we have a right to expect them to meet the highest standards of the legal profession and that certainly means not engaging in two-hour sessions with strippers behind closed doors. Nor does it mean 'hitting upon' attorneys with late night phone calls.
That the district judges of Oklahoma County voted to fire Judge Chionopoulos is good. That they permitted him to resign in lieu of being fired seems a 'cop out'. One intended to reduce the embarassment the Oklahoma judiciary would experience in the wake of yet another judicial scandal, such as that of 'The Masturbating Judge ' or the McCurtain County judge that awarded child custody to a convicted sex offender and apparently did so in violation of Oklahoma law.
In the very least a grand jury investigation is in order to determine to what if any extent Judge Chionopoulos used his position of authority and trust to violate the constitutional rights of those citizens and attorneys that appeared before him. A failure to conduct such an investiagtion can only be seen as a 'cop out' and coverup.
