Judge Edith Jones Accused Of Racial Bias | TPM LiveWire

Judge Edith Jones Accused Of Racial Bias | TPM LiveWire: Civil rights organizations and legal ethics experts filed a judicial misconduct complaint on Tuesday against a senior federal judge, alleging that she made inappropriate statements against minority groups and people with mental disabilities, the New York Times reported.

According to the San Antonio Express-News, the complaint alleged that Judge Edith H. Jones, of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, said in a speech in February at the University of Pennsylvania Law School that African-Americans and Hispanics are "predisposed to crime" and that defendants facing capital punishment who claim "mental retardation" disgust her.

Jones was a potential Supreme Court nominee during the Bush Administration. Until October, she was the chief judge on the conservative 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.

The current chief judge on that circuit, Carl E. Stewart -- the first African-American to fill that post -- will decide whether to dismiss the complaint, speak privately with Jones or order an investigation into the allegations.