A Canadian judge has been punished with a 30-day suspension for reportedly wearing a 'Make America Great Again' hat on the bench the day after Donald Trump won the U.S. presidential election.
A Canadian judge has been punished with a 30-day suspension for reportedly wearing a 'Make America Great Again' hat on the bench the day after Donald Trump won the U.S. presidential election, notes CBC News.
According to the National Post, the Ontario Judicial Council panel recently ruled that Bernd Zabel, 69, would be formally reprimanded and suspended without pay, but he will not be fired.
“Whatever Justice Zabel may have thought about the U.S. presidential election, and however serious his actions of Nov. 9, 2016, may have been, his record on the bench and his reputation with his judicial colleagues and the bar demonstrates that he is an entirely fair-minded and impartial judge who is dedicated to the highest ideals of his calling,” the deciding panel has been quoted as saying about its decision.
Nevertheless, the panel found that he had “violated the fundamental principle that the judiciary must remain above and removed from politics,” notes the BBC.
Zabel’s Trump hat had been reported to the judicial council by dozens of public and legal observers, some of whom indicated a fear that his rulings would reflect biases expressed by the U.S. president.
The judge has since acknowledged that he was wrong to wear the hat, even apologizing for the move--which he said was intended to be humorous--in court.
