Adrastos, Bigotry, Gret Stet Politics, Law/Justice, Legal Docket, Malakatude, Race

Malaka Of The Week: The Odious Judge Odinet

One of the first malaka of the week posts I wrote after joining First Draft in 2009 was about a racist Louisiana judge. Sometimes history repeats slowly but it always repeats itself. And that is why Lafayette City Court Judge Michelle Odinet is malaka of the week,

The story was broken on Monday by The Current in Lafayette, LA:

A video has surfaced capturing racist remarks dropped casually in a Lafayette City Court judge’s home, as her family gathered to watch home security footage of a foiled car burglary in their driveway.

In the clip, which Lafayette City Court Judge Michelle Odinet confirmed to be in her Bendel Gardens home, witnesses jokingly toss around racial slurs while narrating home security footage of their efforts to stop a man from breaking into a car on their driveway.

In a phone interview, Odinet confirmed the “armed burglary” at her home very early Saturday morning, saying the incident “was horrific” and “shook” her “to the core.” No faces are evident in the cell phone video, and it is unclear who is using the racist language. It’s unknown who recorded the video, which was circulated to multiple members of the local media today, and how and why it was initially disseminated.

There are multiple references to “mom” throughout the video and her role during the burglary in progress.

“And Mom’s yelling n*****, n*****,” says one male voice, to which another female voice responds: “We have a n *****, It’s a n*****, like a roach.”

“Lost his wallet,” says one voice. “That’s my phone where it fell out,” says another. “Going get the gun,” can be heard. “The dude had a phone on him,” chimes in a female voice. “I should have taken his phone from him, that f****** ass****.”

Malaka Michelle forgot to say eeny-meeny-miny-moe. I guess it was the heat of the moment. It’s harder to be a racist vigilante than a racist judge, after all.

Odinet has attempted to deflect attention from her bigoted antics by hiring a liberal lawyer/law professor from New Orleans, Dane Ciolino and taking a leave of absence from the bench. The shitstorm rages on despite Ciolino’s saying that the Odious Judge Odinet is “humiliated and embarrassed” by the incident. I would hope so.

The reaction to the odious Odinet video was swift and scathing. Governor Edwards and the National Bar Association have called for the bigoted judge to be benched permanently.

Resignation demands have led to recusal demands by two black defendants who recently appeared before the Odious Judge Odinet:

Attorneys Barry Sallinger and Allyson Melancon filed motions Tuesday in both cases, arguing that Odinet has shown “that she is prejudiced and bias (sic) against African Americans.”

“Her free and flippant use of a vile, derogatory term to describe an African American man can result in no other conclusion,” they wrote.

Malaka Michelle claims to have no memory of dropping all the n-bombs. Her excuse is preposterous piffle:

One could call this The Ramones defense. It’s a novel defense, but unlikely to save her job. Sedation neither causes racism nor excuses it.

There’s been collateral damage since the release of the video. Odinet’s son, Elijah, has been removed from LSU track team because his mommy compared a black man to a roach. He been placed on what amounts to the inactive list. One could even call it the son of a racist list.

There are two lessons to be learned from what Erle Stanley Gardner would have called The Curious Case of the Odious Judge Odinet:

  • Be careful what you film on your phone camera.
  • Be careful what you post on Facebook. It may be a private group but there could be liberals or even reporters in the hood.

Home video claims another malefactor, another bigot bites the dust. Her future is murky. Perhaps she can become the Judge Judy of Newsmax. They’re big on bigots.

The Odious Judge Odinet is, of course, a Republican. They’ve gone from the party of Lincoln to the party of racist MAGA Maggots and Dipshit Insurrectionists. Some of them will consider the injudicious jurist a heroine for defending her home against THOSE PEOPLE. As far as I’m concerned, she’s just another racist who’s sorry she got caught. And that is why the Odious Judge Odinet is malaka of the week.

The last word goes to The Ramones: