Ferguson Judge Named In DOJ Report Resigns
FERGUSON, Mo., March 10 (UPI) — A Ferguson, Mo., municipal judge cited in a scathing Department of Justice report, resigned his position late Monday, but did not admit to any wrongdoing.
Ronald J. Brockmeyer announced his resignation after sitting on the bench for more than a decade and as the Missouri Supreme Court announced his replacement. Brockmeyer told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the DOJ report was not accurate.
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“I don’t believe the report was correct, but it’s not worth fighting,” he said.
Last week, the Justice Department released a 102-page report that accused local officials of using the police department and the court system as a source of revenue.
A statement issued by Bert Fulk, an attorney at Brockmeyer’s firm, defended Brockmeyer’s actions and placed much of the blame on the court clerk and the assistant clerks.
“Unlike the municipal judge, the court clerk is a full-time position and deals with the day-to-day operations of the court. Mr. Brockmeyer appears in the Ferguson Municipal Court only once a week,” Fulk said.
“Mr. Brockmeyer recognizes that the Department of Justice report, as well as recent media reports, regardless of their accuracy or validity, have diminished the public’s confidence in the Ferguson Municipal Court.”
Judge Roy L. Richter of the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, was assigned to the St. Louis County circuit court where he’ll hear cases from Ferguson.
His transfer will take effect March 16 and continue indefinitely.
As part of Richter’s placement, he’ll be given the authority to institute new polices in the municipal court.
“Judge Richter will bring a fresh, disinterested perspective to this court’s practices and he is able and willing to implement needed reforms,” Chief Justice Mary R. Russell said in a statement.
The move came less than a week after the Justice Department said the law enforcement and judicial system in Ferguson discriminated against African-Americans.
