Court Digest

Arkansas
First Black female judge in state retires from bench

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — The first Black woman to become a judge in Arkansas retired Friday after 37 years on the bench.

Judge Joyce Warren retired due to a state law that requires judges who win elections after the age of 70 to forfeit their retirement benefits.

"I thought I would never want to retire because I absolutely love what I do," said Warren, who serves as 10th Division judge in the 6th Judicial Circuit. "This is the most difficult job ethically, emotionally, mentally — every way you can think about it — but I still love it."

Warren credits the beginning of her 44-year legal career to her husband, James "Butch" Warren, for suggesting to take the Law School Admission Test in Memphis.

In 1983, Pulaski County Judge Don Venhaus appointed her as a juvenile judge, making Warren the first Black female judge in the state's history.

Warren was also the first Black law clerk for the Arkansas Supreme Court and the first Black woman to graduate from the University of Arkansas Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law, according to the CALS Encyclopedia of Arkansas.

Though Warren retired because of state law, she said she is looking forward to retirement.

Ohio
Court: Parents of child who killed himself can sue educators

CINCINNATI (AP) — The parents of an 8-year-old student who killed himself after being persistently bullied can move forward with a lawsuit against the Cincinnati school district that alleges wrongful death and other charges, a federal appeals panel ruled Tuesday.

The three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court Appeals said Gabriel Taye's parents had established "reckless behavior" that prevents school officials from receiving governmental immunity for their handling of the case.

The lawsuit's allegations also charge school officials with intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress and failure to report child abuse. The lawsuit says Taye was bullied at his elementary school starting in first grade, with the bullying escalating in his third grade year.

Other students punched and kicked him in assaults and on Jan. 24, 2017, knocked him unconscious by throwing him against a bathroom wall, the parents say in the lawsuit.

He stayed home sick the next day, returned to school Jan. 26 and was bullied again in the bathroom by students who took his water bottle and tried to flush it down the toilet, his parents say. He killed himself that evening in his bedroom.

Taye's parents, Cornelia Reynolds and Benyam Tate, say school officials either misrepresented bullying attacks on their son or failed to inform them. The court ruling says that administrators at Carson Elementary didn't call 911 when Taye was knocked out, failed to punish the bullies, didn't tell teachers of problems, didn't supervise the bathroom despite repeated bullying, and withheld information.

They "ultimately, prevented Taye's parents from fully understanding Taye's horrifying experience at Carson Elementary until it was too late," wrote Judge Bernice Bouie Donald. The opinion noted that the school's own safety guidelines warned that suicide can result from bullying.

"This is a preliminary decision based on plaintiffs' side of the story and assuming that everything they say in their complaint is true," the defendants' attorney, Aaron Herzig, said by email. "However, it does not reflect the facts as they have developed throughout this case."

He declined to say whether there would be further appeals of the ruling, which upheld a lower court.

"The truth about what happened to Gabe at Carson Elementary needs to be revealed and shared with all parents," Jennifer Branch, attorney for Taye's mother, said by email. "We have been able to gather testimony and evidence these last few months. Now we can proceed to trial."

Florida
Judge won't intervene in fight between principal and student

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A South Florida high school principal asked a judge last week for a restraining order against a former student turned critic.

The South Florida SunSentinel reported that a judge rejected Karlton Johnson's restraining order request, and suggested that he should try to talk out his differences with Delvin King, 27.

Johnson, 54, is a longtime principal of Blanche Ely High in Pompano Beach. He has been feuding for more than a year with King, who graduated in 2011 and chaired the School Advisory Council from 2018 to 2019.

The newspaper sparred again on Monday afternoon during a hearing that King livestreamed on Facebook. The livestream attracted some 5,000 views and more than 2,100 comments, most of whom sided with the former student.

King now heads a private school in Pompano Beach. He's been a critic of Johnson's leadership for some time, the newspaper reported.

But recently, the behavior has become dangerous, Johnson told Judge Frank Ledee in seeking the restraining order.

"He's creating hostility among the citizens of Broward County, and I'm afraid for my life at this point," Johnson said. "He's threatened me on social media,"

Johnson was not able to provide any evidence of his claims to the judge. He said King had removed the questionable posts.

Johnson also alleged that King used fake names to call into School Advisory Council meetings on Nov. 17 and Dec. 15, shouting obscenities.

King denied the accusation, telling the judge that Johnson is "doing all of this because I stand up for the community and call out everything he does wrong at the school."

The newspaper reported that both men represented themselves without lawyers. It was the second time the legal system ruled against Johnson in his disputes with King.

King was kicked off the School Advisory Council in October 2019, and issued a no-trespass letter, which said he made comments at meetings such as "You are a liar" and "You are a fraud."

In January, King showed up just off campus wearing a shirt that read, "Fire Mr. Johnson."

The newspaper reported that King posted a video on social media showing him getting arrested for being less than 1,000 feet from the school — just seconds after a smiling Johnson posed in a photo with King.

Prosecutors dropped the charges, deciding there was "no reasonable likelihood of conviction."

At virtual council meetings in October and November, King complained about how the school is run. In November, when King and a friend asked about about the trespassing arrest, Johnson removed both men from the meeting.

A few minutes later, the newspaper reported, a caller posed as Broward School Board member Nora Rupert and began shouting obscenities. Johnson said a similar incident happened in December and he blamed King. King has denied making the calls.

While the judge didn't resolve that issue, he noted that both men seemed to want the same thing: to protect and educate kids. Ledee suggested the two "negotiate their disputes" through "respect and conversation," the newspaper reported.

King said Johnson "will lie his way through anything just to stop someone from coming to make a change at Blanche Ely High School. This has to stop. We need a new principal."

Johnson told the newspaper on Monday night that he has a lot of community support and suggested the fight isn't over.

"We shouldn't allow people to be able to victimize students and parents," he said before hanging up.

Louisiana
State Supreme Court Museum named after retiring justice

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Louisiana's high court is naming its museum after retiring Chief Justice Bernette Joshua Johnson, the first Black and second female to serve in that role on the court.

The Louisiana Supreme Court Museum includes portraits of all 25 Chief Justices who have presided over the court throughout history. Additionally, the museum contains a replica of the building, historical papers from the Plessy v. Ferguson case — the landmark 1896 U.S. Supreme Court decision that upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation under the "separate but equal" doctrine — and information on New Orleans Colonial Law and Louisiana Civil Code.

The Museum is also home to the "Women in the Law" exhibit, a historical timeline chronicling women's "firsts" achievements in law, highlighting their determination, commitment, and often under-recognized contributions to jurisprudence.

Johnson retired on Thursday.

"I have a commitment to the fair application of justice, first in my role as Chief Justice but also to leave a legacy to those who follow in my path as I was inspired by many of the jurists whose accomplishments are memorialized in the Chief Justice Bernette Joshua Johnson Supreme Court Museum," Johnson said in a statement from the court.