Federal Judge Reprimanded for Affair with Police Officer

A federal judge in the U.S. South has been privately reprimanded for engaging in an extramarital affair with a high-ranking police officer, according to multiple reports. The judge, who was not publicly identified, had sex with the officer in chambers during business hours within earshot of courthouse staff and made false statements about it.

The Judicial Conference of the U.S.’s Committee on Judicial Conduct and Disability upheld the Atlanta-based 11th Circuit Judicial Council’s February decision to discipline the judge. Aside from the private reprimand, the judge agreed to forgo any opportunity to serve as chief judge in the court, apologize to any court staff who was interviewed as part of the probe, and indefinitely refrain from serving on any Judicial Conference committee.

The allegations first surfaced last year after a law clerk reported multiple instances of the judge engaging in sexual activity with a police officer during business hours. The clerk also alleged that the judge had told staff members about having “had too many martinis the night before” at an event for a district attorney. In October 2025, the judge initially denied the claims but later admitted to the affair, which had been going on for two years.

The investigation found that the judge violated the Judicial Code of Conduct by attending a partisan political event hosted by a district attorney’s campaign. The panel concluded that the conduct represented a 'gross lack of judgment' and damaged the workplace environment for clerks assigned to chambers. Investigators were also troubled by the potential ethical fallout because the officer's department regularly appeared in cases before the federal court.