On Tuesday, October 11, 2022, the Alabama Court of the Judiciary (COJ) suspended Jefferson County Circuit Judge Tracie Todd without pay for 120 days for a judicial ethics violation.
In December 2021, after an eight-month paid suspension, Todd was found guilty of violating several Canons of Judicial Ethics. She was consequently ordered to work 90 days without pay beginning on December 6, 2021.
On March 16, 2022, the Judicial Inquiry Commission (JIC) filed a new complaint against Judge Todd alleging she disobeyed that order and misled the court. The complaint included four charges based on Judge Todd’s purported violations of several Canons.
The COJ found that Judge Todd failed to fully comply with its December 2021 order to work for 90 days without pay.
Prior to her reinstatement, Todd’s legal team claimed that Judge Todd was in Chicago, where her husband resides. Todd became ill with family sickness shortly after she was told to return to the courtroom and had to be quarantined. She later fell ill and didn’t come back to Alabama until the middle of February.
Regarding Charge 2 of the complaint, the COJ did not find clear and convincing evidence that Judge Todd misled her colleagues and the Court regarding her reinstatement. The COJ said that Charge 3, which accused Todd of failing to make provisions for her cases, was redundant to the first charge. The Court dismissed Charge 4 of the complaint at the conclusion of the Commission’s case.
The order reads:
“Based on Judge Todd’s violation of Canon 1 as alleged in Charge 1 of the complaint, Judge Todd is hereby suspended, without pay, for a period of 120 days. Judge Todd is also taxed with the Court of the Judiciary’s costs for this proceeding.”
Judge Todd earned a law degree from the University of Alabama School of Law.
A copy of the original filing can be found here.
