Halloween, much like MLK Day, has reached the special status of being a holiday you know someone is going to get fired over because they committed a little too hard to the bit. The usual “go collect your belongings” scenario involves people who decide to dress up in Blackface or as a Nazi — the latter sometimes having so much attention to detail that you wonder if their costume is a year-round thing behind closed doors. But this Halloween nixing didn’t seem to come from a place of hate — just a Burning Love for Elvis the Pelvis. STL Mag has coverage:
A St. Charles County judge who traded his black robes for an Elvis jumpsuit is being forced into retirement—and his mania for The King is partly to blame. Disciplinary charges accuse Judge Matthew Thornhill dressing like Elvis Presley in court on Halloween, making Elvis references in court, and even playing Elvis tunes in his courtroom.
As part of an agreement with the Missouri Supreme Court’s Commission on Retirement, Removal, and Discipline, Thornhill will serve a six-month unpaid suspension. After that, he’ll be allowed to return for an 18-month stint, but must retire after that and promise to never seek reelection, a deal that allows him to retire with 20 years of service. Missouri judges who are at least 62 years old and have served 20 years can retire with full benefits.
Tough crowd. You can see photos of his costume below:
Not only was this clearly because of the holiday, Halloween fell on a Friday this year. You’re forcing a guy to retire for what he wore on casual Friday?! So much for judges being able to set the local rules for their courtrooms! A New York judge recently granted counsel the option of wearing costumes to work for Halloween a couple of days in advance — maybe Thornhill’s mistake was that he didn’t give folks a heads-up.
In case you’re reading this with a Suspicious Mind, playing dress up isn’t the only reason he’s in the hot seat. Judge Thornhill violated Missouri Supreme Court rules by blabbing about his political affiliations and “hand-delivering an affidavit vouching for a party in an adoption case,” but those substantive reasons aren’t nearly as interesting as him swearing in litigants as Elvis songs played from his phone, so that’s not where I’ll be focusing my attention.
If this were a Judges Behaving Badly story with a little more gravitas, I’d recommend Judge Thornhill to spend the six-month unpaid suspension reading up on why taking Ambien isn’t an excuse to shout racial slurs or why handcuffing sleeping children in your courtroom isn’t the best practice, but considering the facts presented, I’ll just recommend that Thornhill make A Little Less Conversation about his political affiliations and to pay more attention to reading Above the Law — his costume would have been a strong contender for our 16th annual Legally Themed Halloween Costume Contest.
Elvis-Loving St. Charles County Judge Forced To Retire After Dressing Like His Idol [STL Mag]
Earlier: SDNY Judge Tells Biglaw Lawyers ‘Costumes Optional’ For Friday Hearing
Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s . He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who is learning to swim, is interested in critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at [email protected] and by tweet at @WritesForRent.
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