Georgia Judge Resigns in the Wake of Facebook Scandal

Judge Ernest “Bucky” Woods, Chief Judge in the Mountain Judicial Circuit Superior Court in Georgia, has resigned because he “just got tired of living under a microscope.” In recent months, allegations have arisen that Woods had an inappropriate relationship with a criminal defendant, Tara Elizabeth Black, that were documented in Facebook emails exchanged between Woods and Black; Black’s criminal charges were pending in Woods’ court.

The emails, which reporters in Georgia obtained through an open records request, indicate that Woods initiated the relationship with Black when he contacted her through Facebook, saying that he noticed she worked in a hair salon and was thinking of a new person to cut his hair. Black said that she would refer Woods to a colleague, since she did not cut hair. In subsequent emails, the two discussed both her case and her friend’s drug court case, over which Woods also presided. The emails indicate that Woods gave Black advice on the strategy for her own case, in which she was accused of theft by deception for not making payments on a loan, and signed an order allowing her to be released on her own recognizance so she would not have to post a cash bond. They eventually did meet, after which Black asked Woods to loan her $700 to pay her rent, and he offered $450; they met at her apartment the following week.

The District Attorney is not prosecuting Woods because he sees no criminal violation. Though the Georgia Judicial Qualifications Commission was conducting an inquiry, as the communications appear to conflict with the Georgia Code of Judicial Conduct, Woods’ resignation from the bench ends that inquiry. Woods, 54, has been a judge for 17 years; he is fully vested in the state pension plan and is calling his resignation “a retirement.”