"Here We Go . . . Again."

By guest blogger Purple

On February 20th, Montana's chief federal judge, Richard Cebull forwarded a racially charged email about President Obama from his courthouse email to six or seven (varying reports) recipients. His email reads:

"A MOM'S MEMORY"

"Normally I don't send or forward a lot of these, but even by my standards, it was a bit touching. I want all of my friends to feel what I felt when I read this. Hope it touches your heart like it did mine."

"A little boy said to his mother; 'Mommy, how come I'm black and you're white?'" the email jokje reads. "His mother replied, 'Don't eben go there Barack! From what I can remember about that party, you're lucky you don't bark.'"

Cebull has since publicly apologized, stating he sent the email because he's "anti- Obama" but not racist. He admits that the email does have racist content, but that was not his intention in sending it. He also says the email was not meant to go public, and was meant to be private communication among acquaintances. He's also requested a judicial review.

What are your thoughts on his actions? Do you think he should be reprimanded?

*For me, the fact that the email was forwarded from his professional email address speaks volumes on the impact of language in this situation.

Article providing initial detail:

http://www.greatfallstribune.com/article/20120229/NEWS01/120229014/Chief-U-S-District-Judge-sends-racially-charged-email-about-president

Articles detailing Cebull's apology:

http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/01/10549045-us-judge-forwards-racist-email-about-obama

http://billingsgazette.com/news/local/cebull-asks-for-review-of-conduct-on-bench/article_92a4d61c-b15a-5a06-8368-80127c680613.html