A New York state judge who engaged in a prolonged, offensive rant at a high school graduation party is facing removal from office after a judicial watchdog panel recommended her firing over the incident.
State Supreme Court Justice Erin Gall, 53, invoked her authority as a judge to try to get uninvited guests arrested, threatened to shoot Black teenagers and bragged that her 18-year-old son had "put the smackdown" on another partygoer, the state Commission on Judicial Conduct said in its report issued Monday.
The Incident Took Place at a Friend's Graduation Party Where 4 Black Teenagers Arrived Uninvited
The report included footage from multiple body cameras showing the incident unfold at the July 1, 2022 graduation party at her friend's house.
According to the report, Gall attended the party at a friend's home in New Hartford, New York, with her husband and three teenage children. The party's hosts hired a bartender and provided a keg of beer that guests could serve themselves from.
A large number of apparent party crashers showed up after 11:30 p.m., the panel said. Four Black teenagers arrived after learning of the party from a live video feed, and the driver then lost his car keys, the report said.
Arguments and fights broke out between the invited and uninvited guests, and officers from several law enforcement agencies responded to the scene.
'Get Off the Property'
Police body camera footage showed Gall telling the Black teenagers, "You got to leave! You're not going to find your keys. You got to call an Uber and get off the property."
"Well, you're going to get in an Uber, buddy, or you're going to get a cop escort home. That's how it's happening," she is heard saying. "That's how I roll." Gall tried to get the police to arrest the Black teenagers for trespassing, saying, "I've done this for a million years. I'm a lawyer. I'm a judge. I know this."
She also yelled at the teenagers to "Get off the property! And's that's from Judge Gall! I'm a judge!," she said, while using profane language.
Both Gall's husband and her 18-year-old son were involved in the fighting, and Gall told officers that her son "put a smackdown once he got hit." She also said, "My husband and son got hit first . . . but they finished. Like I taught 'em."
Gall Said If the Teens Returned to Look for Their Keys She 'She Would Shoot Them on the Property'
Gall told police that the Black teenagers "don't look like they're that smart. They're not going to business school, that's for sure." She also said that if the teenagers were to come back looking for their keys, "you can shoot them on the property. I'll shoot them on the property."
The commission found that Gall, a white Republican who has served as an elected judge in upstate Oneida County since 2012, "created at least the appearance that she harbored racial bias," which could undermine public confidence in her integrity.
"Her wide array of misconduct severely undermined public confidence in the judiciary and in her ability to serve as a fair and impartial judge," the commission said in the report recommending her removal.
Gall, who has been sitting on the bench during the two years it took for the judicial commission to complete its investigation, is now suspended with pay — her salary is $232,600 a year — while New York's highest court, the Court of Appeals, decides her fate. Meanwhile, her attorney, Robert Julian, said Tuesday that they will appeal the panel's determination.
Gall testified during the investigation, saying that the violent skirmishes at the graduation party triggered memories of a 1990 assault she suffered as a college student.
