A Las Vegas judge is speaking out after being accused of ethics violations because of two social media posts, including one showing her posing with two public defenders in a hot tub.
A special counsel appointed by the Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline filed a formal statement of charges against Clark County District Court Judge Erika Ballou on Jan 24.
The commission found Ballou posed with Clark County Public Defenders Shana Brouwers and Robson Hauser in a photo shared in April 2022 on Facebook with the caption, “Robson is surrounded by great t–s.”
The charges also stem from a September 2021 Instagram post made by Ballou. It shows the judge attending a music festival and includes the hashtag #VacateTheSh*tOuttaOutofCustodyCases, which the commission interprets to mean cases against defendants not in custody should be tossed out.
The commission contends that Ballou violated three rules with her posts, including a rule that requires judges to “promote public confidence” and “avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety.”
The rules are meant to ensure that judges can’t be influenced and don’t engage in activities that could appear to undermine their integrity or impartiality.
According to Law & Crime, Ballou responded on Facebook to news of the ethics charges with profane lyrics of the song “Get Up 10” by rapper Cardi B.
“Went from makin’ tuna sandwiches to makin’ the news,” wrote the judge. “I started speakin’ my mind and tripled my views. Get money, go hard…” part of the post says.
Ballou served as a public defender for 15 years before being elected as a judge for the District Court Civil Criminal Division and sworn in by January 2021. KLAS News also noted that Ballou ruffled the feathers of the Las Vegas Police Department after she made comments about their inability to interact with Black people without it, resulting in violence or death back in 2022. The judge was addressing a Black defendant accused of committing battery against a police officer.
“You’re the one making the decision not to walk away from cops. You’re a Black man in America. You know you don’t want to be nowhere where cops are,” said Ballou. “You know you don’t want to be nowhere where cops are ’cause I know I don’t, and I’m a middle-aged, middle-class Black woman. I don’t want to be around where the cops are because I don’t know if I’m going to walk away alive or not.”
“Even if the cop, like, came after and was harassing your group, you should have walked away instead of staying,” she added. “You needed to walk away because you knew you were on probation, you knew.”
The Las Vegas Police Protective Association union called for the judge’s resignation and an ethics investigation following the comments. The judge was also ordered to remove a Black Lives Matter pin by a judge in 2016 when she was still a public defender, but she refused.
A public hearing for the ethics case has yet to be scheduled, as Ballou has the right to appeal the charges all the way to the Nevada Supreme Court.
