TN legislative committee recommends embattled Shelby County judge be removed from office

A joint committee of the Tennessee General Assembly voted Thursday to recommend that embattled Shelby County Criminal Court Judge Melissa Boyd be removed from office.

The vote comes months after the Board of Judicial Conduct wrote a letter to the legislature recommending her removal. The board does not have removal powers, but the General Assembly does.

Boyd did not appear to be present for the committee meeting though she was invited, but Sen. Todd Gardenhire, a Republican from Chattanooga, read a letter from Boyd's attorney at the beginning of the meeting that lashed out at legislators and the board.

"The Republican supermajority has no respect for the voters of Memphis," Boyd's attorney wrote in the letter. "Time and time again, the Republican supermajority has been introducing and passing legislation designed to overrule decisions made by the electorate of the City of Memphis and made by those that the people of the City of Memphis have elected. The Republican supermajority has no respect for African Americans living in Tennessee, and has no interest in hearing what they have to say, or allowing them to speak without interruption or being stopped."

Judge Andrew Brigham, who chairs the board, and Marshall Davidson, the chief disciplinary counsel for the board, spoke about what spurred the decision to recommend Boyd be removed. The two men also fielded questions from the joint committee members, including about why the board suggested removal and if Boyd was receiving her salary still.

Boyd is still receiving her salary, but Davidson told the committee he was unsure exactly what that salary is or what benefits she might be receiving. He did, however, estimate she was being paid about $17,000 per month, even though she has not sat on the bench in months. Sen. Raumesh Akbari, a Memphis Democrat, said she believes that if Boyd were to resign she could be eligible for retirement benefits in May this year.

Akbari also asked if the board was seeking to remove Boyd because she was dealing with abuse disorders, or if it was because the judge had brushed off the requirements the board established. Davidson told Akbari the board had extended deadlines multiple times in an attempt to have Boyd seek treatment.

Davidson, when answering questions, also said that Boyd had recently failed a drug test, even though her criminal defense attorneys have said she was receiving treatment at a facility in Georgia. He added that Boyd was diagnosed with "severe" alcohol, cocaine and marijuana abuse disorders.

Both Davidson and Rep. William Lamberth, a Republican from Portland, took issue with the letter Boyd sent the General Assembly. Lamberth said it was "very disturbing" that the letter did not mention her struggles with cocaine addiction, which the board has said Boyd acknowledged she had.

More: Judicial board recommends removal of Shelby County Judge Melissa Boyd. What happens next

Lamberth also took issue with what he described as "victim blaming" in the letter.

"I was very disturbed by the fact that there's an enormous amount of blame that the letter has tried to put at the feet of someone who is a victim in this circumstance," Lamberth said. "That is never appropriate, and hopefully Republicans and Democrats, we can come around that idea and say that a defendant is innocent until proven guilty, but this type of behavior is not acceptable."

Lamberth, in agreeing with the board's conclusion, said that the allegations against Boyd do undermine the legitimacy of her courtroom.

"I'm worried about the behavior of this judge because I can't imagine being a victim of domestic violence, or vandalism or theft that would step into this particular courtroom and have any semblance of belief that you would get a fair hearing before a judge who is alleged to have done this type of conduct," Lamberth said.

All five Senate members in the joint committee, along with all five House members, voted in favor of recommending Boyd be removed. The committee included multiple Democrats and Republicans. Removal proceedings will now be moved to the House and Senate, but no date for discussion has been established yet.

Why Judge Boyd is up for removal by the Tennessee General Assembly

The Tennessee Board of Judicial Conduct recommended Boyd be removed in late January after she received two reprimands from the board. The first came after the board said she wore a judicial robe in an attempt to score donations for a school.

The following reprimand came after a slew of allegations were levied against Boyd by her former campaign manager, which claimed she was using drugs like marijuana and cocaine and that she had been harassing that campaign manager.

The board said Boyd should complete a rehab program for her struggles with substance abuse, but that Boyd did not comply with that order. At the time, she was suspended from the bench, though the order was not made public until the board said she was continuing to not comply with the order.

That order was publicly released due to her not complying with it, and the board then referred Boyd to the General Assembly for "further action."

More: Shelby Co. judge reprimanded for re-sentencing comments, fourth judge reprimanded in a year

Boyd was later criminally indicted for harassment and coercion of a witness. The case is making its way through Shelby County criminal court and is being prosecuted by Frederick Agee, district attorney for Crockett, Gibson and Haywood counties.

According to the board, Boyd would show up at the campaign manager's home and berate her. The campaign manager said Boyd tried to have her recant her statements to the oversight board, telling the manager to "shut up" and "not mess with her because she's a judge."

The board, though having the power to issue public reprimands, does not have power beyond that to punish judges. Boyd has, since being suspended from the bench, been collecting her full pay from the state. The General Assembly is the only body in Tennessee with the power to remove a sitting judge.

Boyd's attorneys for her criminal case said during a March 1 hearing she has completed a program at a treatment facility in Georgia. In an earlier statement to The Commercial Appeal, one of Boyd's criminal defense attorneys, Arthur Horne III, said some of her actions were "irrational" before she received treatment.

"I was always a fierce advocate to get [Boyd] into a facility, to get her the help that she needed," Horne said. "And she's doing that now. I don't know whether that sways the opinion of the legislature because a lot of her actions were irrational prior to her getting the help that she needed."

Lucas Finton is a criminal justice reporter with The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at Lucas.Finton@commercialappeal.com, or (901)208-3922, and followed on X, formerly known as Twitter, @LucasFinton.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: TN legislative committee recommends removing Judge Melissa Boyd from seat