by TChris

Judges need to send the message that they take their jobs seriously, and they need to maintain the appearance of neutrality. So what's up with this?

A judge welcomed a former fugitive back to her courtroom with balloons, streamers and a cake before sentencing him to life in prison. "You just made my day when I heard you had finally come home," Judge Faith Johnson told Billy Wayne Williams, who had been convicted in absentia of aggravated assault after he disappeared a year ago. "We're so excited to see you, we're throwing a party for you."

Before he was brought into the courtroom on Monday, the judge directed staff members as they placed balloons and streamers around the courtroom. A colorful cake was decorated with his name and one candle to signify the year he spent on the lam.

A life sentence is nothing to joke about. With good reason, the defendant was not amused.

"It seems like everyone wants to have a party, and it's fun for you people, but not for me," Williams told reporters as he was led away in handcuffs.

Fortunately, there are some thoughtful individuals in Texas who recognize inappropriate judicial behavior. One of them is Seana Willing, executive director of the Texas Commission on Judicial Conduct, who found the incident troubling.

"It's the kind of thing I look at and scratch my head and wonder, `What was she thinking?'" Willing said. She questioned whether the party violated standards of decorum and impartiality. "The whole purpose of it was to mock him, to make him feel bad. I guess she could have put him in the stockade, in the pillory, in front of the town square and let people mock him," Willing said.

Maybe it's not good to give Judge Johnson any new ideas.