Absolute placard corrupts absolutely.
The state's Commission on Judicial Conduct said on Monday that Brooklyn Civil Court Judge Jill Epstein "should be admonished" for pulling rank on another placard perp during an altercation over a blocked roadway last April — though she'd already been demoted.
According to the Commission, Epstein was stuck behind a double-parked car outside of a school on one-way Pacific Street, and entered the school, identified herself as a judge, and demanded that the vehicle be moved.
The car, it turns out, belonged to a teacher at the school who came outside and said that she has a parking placard that affords her privileges not available to mere mortals.
Epstein, the Commission's ruling said, "became angry, called her a 'stupid bitch,' ... and added she had a courthouse to run."
The judge mentioned her own parking placard, but reminded the teacher that it cannot be used for double parking. Regardless of that fact, the Commission determined that Epstein “improperly asserted her judicial status ... and created the appearance that she expected special treatment and deference due to her judicial position.”
Epstein later apologized to the teacher and had been demoted from her post as a supervising judge, prompting Commission Administrator Robert Tembeckjian to allow for "the mildest public discipline available" — a simple "admonition." Still, he sent a message to Epstein and all members of the placard and car-cultured elites.
“A judge must uphold the integrity and dignity of judicial office at all times, on or off the bench, and avoid asserting the judicial title in personal situations, such as when frustrated by a traffic jam," he said.
Epstein made $202,000 as a judge last year, according to public payroll records. Her term ends in 2028.
It is unclear what, if anything, happened to the teacher; the Commission does not identify the teacher or the school.
It's not the first time Epstein, a judge since 2019, has been in the media. Last year, she embarrassed herself by sending an error-filled cover letter to Brooklyn Democratic officials overseeing the judicial nomination process, the Post reported.
“This might be the worst letter I have ever received from a judicial candidate,” Brooklyn Democratic district leader Douglas Schneider quipped, the Post reported.
