An Alabama judge has been suspended after she was accused of making racial remarks about a white court clerk and postponing critical hearings for patients committed in hospitals so that she could walk her dogs, according to court docs.
Probate Judge Yashiba Blanchard is facing dozens of allegations of incompetence in her courtroom and creating a chaotic backlog of cases, with one attorney begging for hearing to go on as scheduled because he was concerned their client was “going to die.”
Blanchard, was allegedly consistently late to court, did not hear a single case related to involuntary commitments until nine months into her term — leaving patients languishing in hospital mental wards, according to the complaint filed by the Judicial Inquiry Commission.
“Judge Blanchard told her staff on one occasion that she was late to her involuntary commitment docket because she had three dogs to walk,” the complaint states.
Outraged hospital staff wrote to Blanchard’s office last year regarding a cancelled hearing, which would have caused a patient to “remain hospitalized for an additional two weeks solely due to the lack of timely access to the hearing process,” 1819 News reported.
“Beyond this single case, the cancellation of the docket disrupts unit flow, delays care for other patients needing admission which can pose a threat to public safety and places our staff in untenable operational positions. It is difficult to reconcile today’s action with our shared responsibility to ensure patients receive timely due process and appropriate, least-restrictive care.”
In another one of the 24 instances of hearings delayed or canceled outlined in the complaint, an attorney responded to an email about a hearing being rescheduled with a desperate plea: “Just hoping we do not have a continuance because I am so worried that my client is going to die.”
Blanchard is also accused of targeting Chief Clerk Amanda Reid.
When a court staffer told the judge on her first day that she liked Reid, who is white, “Judge Blanchard then said, ‘Oh, I forgot you all like kissing white ass,’” the complaint states.
Blanchard also alleged moved Reid’s desk to a cubicle in front of her bailiff in retaliation for complying with a subpoena from the Judicial Inquiry Commission, according to WBRC.
In total, Blanchard faces seven charges for violating multiple provisions of the Alabama Canons of Judicial Ethics. She has been suspended indefinitely.
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