Atlanta Progressive News

Dekalb County State Court Judge Barbara Mobley has stepped down in a letter to Gov. Nathan Deal, after the Judicial Qualifications Commission filed a complaint against her alleging 16 different violations, according to news reports.

She has agreed to never serve as a judge again in the State of Georgia.

The 16 violations included, according to the JQC report filed February 04, 2011:

Improper use of public employees for the judge’s personal matters and other non-judicial business;

Use of a government-compensated law clerk to represent the judge’s personal interests in civil litigation;

Use of probationers to provide services and labor to the judge’s church;

Use of probationers to work on the election campaign of the judge;

Making false statements to the Commission’s Chief Investigator during the course of the investigation;

Making ad hominem written comments about an attorney who was trying a case before the judge which exhibited a bias and prejudice against the attorney;

Engaging in ex parte communications with litigants and attorneys;

Signing ex parte orders without notifying opposing counsel or giving them an opportunity to respond;

Repeatedly and persistently failing to promptly rule and to dispose of matters before the court which resulted in inexcusable delay in numerous cases; some in excess of four (4) years in violation of OCGA 15-6-21;

Allowing an extensive travel schedule to take precedence over judicial matters resulting in excessive delays and inexcusable neglect of matters pending before the court;

Using government funds to purchase a church choir robe for non-judicial purposes;

Permitting government owned audio-visual equipment to be removed from the courthouse for use by private individuals;

Invoking judicial status in an effort to advance the private interests of a male companion and influence a governmentagency regarding a child support arrearage matter pending before the child support recovery office, which, as a result, was causing an administrative hold on the companion’s application for a passport required for an international trip with the judge.

Indiscriminately, habitually, and without authority posting signs on the courtroom doors identifying those who are andthose who are not permitted in the public courtroom thereby interfering with the public’s access to a public courtroom;

Directing courtroom bailiffs and other court personnel to question members of the public, and the bar, who are merely observing courtroom proceedings, and requiring them to identify themselves and state their business before the court, thereby chilling the public’s right to observe matters before the court and restricting the public access to the court; and

Directing law enforcement personnel to compile Georgia Crime Information Center (GCIC) reports and motor vehicle information concerning private citizens for matters unrelated to legitimate law enforcement or judicial purposes.