Arapahoe County District Court Judge Natalie Chase of Colorado resigned and was officially censured by the state Supreme Court following reports she said the n-word multiple times in the presence of several staff members, including a Black employee.
Elise Schmelzer reported:
"The Colorado Supreme Court on Friday censured 18th Judicial District Court Judge Natalie Chase and said in an order she failed 'to maintain the high standards of judicial conduct required of a judge'."
"Chase agreed to resign next month and did not dispute the facts of the six incidents outlined in the court's order."
"Public censure of a Colorado judge is extremely rare and most disciplinary proceedings are hidden from the taxpayers who pay judges' salaries."
"Although more than 400 judges are working in the state at any given time, only four judges were publicly censured between 2010 and 2020."
The details of Chase's behavior were outlined in detail, with the report stating:
"Chase in late January or early February of 2020 drove two lower-level court employees to a training in Pueblo [Colorado].
"During the drive, Chase asked one of the other employees, who is Black, why Black people can use the N-word and White people cannot along with other questions about the slur, according to the Supreme Court's order."
"Chase, who is White, used the full word several times during the conversation and made the employee, who was trapped in the car and couldn't leave, feel uncomfortable, hurt and angry."
During former court cases, Chase also "belittled" the Black Lives Matter movement and said she would boycott the Super Bowl over players kneeling during the National Anthem.
Chase is also accused of allegedly using a "derogatory" term when referring to a fellow judge and "[directing] her law clerk to edit personal emails for her and to research a personal legal matter not connected to her work."
Upon resigning, Chase apologized and said she never intended to cause "racial animus."
Many people online believed Chase's former cases should be reviewed for potential racial bias in their sentencing.
Racism is an ever-present force in modern society and its influence can be discovered even among the highest-ranking court officials, whose judgement is supposed to be fair and impartial.
