Meet Judge Caroline Glennon-Goodman — a Democrat elected in 2024 who apparently felt a bit too comfortable just a few months into her six-year term:
She says the image was meant for a "close friend" but was instead sent to a fellow judge with the same first name.
From the Chicago Sun-Times:
In a screenshot obtained by WBEZ, Glennon-Goodman shared a meme that depicts a smiling young Black boy and a Black child's leg with an electronic monitor on it. The meme is headlined 'little tiks [sic] … My First Ankle Monitor.'
Glennon-Goodman wrote in the post, 'My husband's idea of Christmas humor,' according to the screenshot.
That's all we know. Was she sharing it with a friend (or so she thought) because she was making fun of black people, commenting on social issues, or because she was rolling her eyes at the stupid memes her husband finds funny?
We'll probably never know because the media has its framing and the PR machines are in overdrive.
In a statement Wednesday, the Cook County Bar Association said, 'It is our understanding that the photo was meant to be shared with a different audience and that the judge involved has apologized profusely. Nevertheless, such media is inappropriate to share regardless of the audience.'
The statement also said, 'Any judge should be unbiased enough to not further circulate such a racist trope … The imagery recalls our nation's history of inappropriate media images of Black people (such as blackface) and such imagery continues to shape the opinions of Black people, particularly Black men.'
The question that needs to be asked:
Would a black judge have been penalized and gotten this much media attention for sharing a meme making fun of white people?
Heck, what about the (now) former prime minister of Canada? Did he ever get penalized?
The comment section, meanwhile, made its thoughts known:
Alright, a bit more context (take it or leave it) before I go, since Glennon-Goodman works in the Chicago area.
A study from a decade ago found that 30% of all black American boys nationwide are arrested by age 18, compared to 26% of Hispanic boys and 22% of Caucasian boys. In Chicago, this sad reality may be more evident than most cities:
Of course, what random internet users share with one another is vastly different from the decorum expected between judges on the bench.
And most of us would lose our jobs if we shared our usual memes with our bosses.
What do you think? Was it a good call to discipline her?
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