Judge Clark A Peterson plays Dungeons and Dragons while on the Bench???? Hearing cases?????
If this is true, we cannot tolerate that behavior! This from the Vote No on Judge Clark A. Peterson Facebook Page:
“LOOK EVERYONE! We made the Spokesman Review again!!! Twice in one week! http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2016/oct/23/fantasy-gamer-past-haunts-magistrate/ ”
and
“We need your help! “Vote NO to “Demon Lord Judge Peterson” facebook is catching on with folks all over. The Spokesman-Review has done 3 articles on us in the last week. We are organizing a picket of the Kootenai County Courthouse Wednesday, November 2 at 9:00 am with TV news coverage. The Coeur d’Alene Press is looking into a possible article on us. We still need to get word out to EVERYONE in Kootenai County. 51% of the vote will get him out! We can send flyers to 97% of homes in the county via the Press if we can scrape the cash together. The cost is in the thousands. ANY amount will help. Can you spare $5, $10, or a larger amount? The link is here: http://www.judgeclarkapeterson.com/please-donate.html ”
Grrrrr…got our blood boiling today….
Judges are required to avoid even the appearance of impropriety! This just blows propriety out of the water!
Think this conduct is unacceptable from a Judge? Let’s make this go viral!!! Share this post with friends and post to Facebook!
Back to sleep now….us anyway…until next year…subject to breaking news, of course!
Allow me to start by noting: I tend to vote NO on judges. Too many make it to the bench and spend the rest of their lives living off the taxpayers with little accountability.
I’ll be voting no for Peterson as well. For that reason, and not because he enjoys playing a game.
Just wanted to get that out there. Judges simply aren’t held accountable for the actions they take, and I don’t believe it’s acceptable for people to retain life-long positions of power over others.
Now, on to these interesting allegations about Peterson. I read a lot about this a few years ago when the individual who is organizing this crusade against Peterson first got the Spokesman Review to “report” on it.
Was it wise for him to post online about his hobby during work hours? Obviously not. But there is no evidence he did so while on the bench. It could have easily been done during breaks, which are his personal time. There is no proof whatsoever that his gaming activities happened while he was sitting in judgement over others, and no proof that they interfered with his job.
Additionally, the primary voice behind the allegations is an individual who was going through a rancorous divorce and latched onto this aspect of the judge’s life. This person once said playing any role playing game is satanic and claimed that Peterson is lost in fantasies.
The first is open for interpretation by individuals based on their faith, but I’m confident most reasonable people don’t think gamers are satanic.
The second isn’t able to be shown one way or the other, unless the judge undergoes psychiatric evaluation, so it is once again left to personal opinion whether someone can play a role playing game and keep it separate from real life.
Peterson shouldn’t be dismissed based on his hobby, unless it’s been proven that his gaming activities actually interfered with his job. He should be dismissed because he’s spent too many years in a very powerful position over others.
[Note from Chester: Can’t say we agree with everything you’ve written, but thanks for sharing your opinion. I guess, we would agree with your final conclusion (last sentence), however, some of us have seen Peterson in “action” (On the bench) and think he is not a good judge based on his behavior, which they all found to be “erratic”, “unprofessional”, “childish” and “not lawyerly”.]