Louisiana Judge Urged to Resign Over Recorded Racist Remarks
Judge Michelle Odinet said she was on a sedative at the time the video was made and, due to her fragile mental state, had no memory of the episode.
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Judge Michelle Odinet of the City Court of Lafayette, La., is facing calls to resign after a video recorded at her home captured several people using a racial slur while watching home security footage of a foiled burglary outside her home, reports the New York Times. In the minute-long video, unseen people inside the judge’s home can be heard using a racist slur repeatedly and laughing as they narrate security-camera footage — playing on a television — of a person trying to break into a car in a driveway. Judge Odinet, a Republican, was elected in November 2020 to be the judge for Division A of Lafayette City Court. City judges serve a six-year term.
She was previously a prosecutor for the district attorney’s offices in New Orleans and Lafayette. The Lafayette chapter of the N.A.A.C.P., the Louisiana Legislative Black Caucus, the Louisiana Democratic Party and the Southern division of the Anti-Defamation League all called for her resignation while criminal defense lawyers asked the judge to recuse herself from their cases. Judge Odinet said she was on a sedative at the time the video was made and, due to her fragile mental state, had no memory of the episode, later apologizing and claiming that the incident ran counter to her beliefs.
