The New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct announced on Tuesday that a state judge has been permanently barred from the bench after the commission filed a complaint over a threatening Facebook post that “conveyed racial and/or political bias.”
The official complaint shows that Altona Town Court Justice Kyle Canning had posted in February an image of a noose with text that read “IF WE WANT TO MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN WE WILL HAVE TO MAKE EVIL PEOPLE FEAR PUNISHMENT AGAIN.”
According to the commission’s press release, Canning resigned in June after the commission served him the complaint regarding the post and has agreed “never to seek or accept judicial office at any time in the future.”
Commission Administrator Robert Tembeckjian described the noose as an “incendiary image” with “repugnant racial connotations” in the press release.
“It is the very antithesis of law and justice,” Tembeckjian said. “For a judge to use the image of the noose in making a political point undermines the integrity of the judiciary and public confidence in the courts.”
Read the commission’s documents below:
