BOSTON — An immigration judge was placed on administrative leave Monday after complaints that he made jokes about Tarzan to a woman who had been raped and tortured in her native Uganda.
The woman, whose first name is Jane, went before Judge Thomas Ragno in June, seeking political asylum in the United States, saying government soldiers killed her husband and attacked her.
"Jane, come here. Me Tarzan!" Ragno said, according to the woman's doctor, who attended the June 20 deportation hearing to testify as an expert witness about the woman's claims.
"It was disrespectful and insulting, and in my mind it was racist to have a white judge making Tarzan comments to a black woman," said Dr. Sondra Crosby.
Ragno also dialed the weather number on his speaker phone so he could listen to the weekend weather forecast and talked in open court about looking for a new condominium, Crosby said. The judge rejected the woman's bid for asylum.
As part of the woman's appeal of Ragno's decision, Crosby filed an affidavit protesting Ragno's courtroom behavior.
The Executive Office for Immigration Review, a division of the U.S. Department of Justice, placed Ragno on paid leave Monday after learning of the complaint, first reported Monday in the Boston Herald.
Greg Gagne, a spokesman for the office, said the complaint had been referred to the Office of Professional Responsibility, which investigates complaints about Justice Department lawyers and judges.
"There were allegations that raised it to that level," said Gagne, who declined to comment further.
Ragno, who has been an immigration judge for more than 30 years, did not return a telephone call seeking comment. Court Administrator Robert Halpin declined comment, referring calls to the public affairs office of the Justice Department.
Ragno has been the subject of earlier complaints.
In 1996, the Board of Immigration Appeals criticized him for a "skeptical and hostile" courtroom demeanor in a case where he denied asylum to a Sudanese refugee who said he feared he would be killed if he returned to his homeland because of his work with Christian missionaries.
In overturning Ragno's decision, the appellate board said Ragno's behavior was "at the least, injudicial in nature." The man's lawyer claimed Ragno had bullied a priest who testified on behalf of the refugee.
Last year, attorney Jeffrey Goldman filed a complaint after he said Ragno was rude and insensitive to his clients, Russian Jews who were seeking asylum after claiming their son had been murdered because of their religion.
Source:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,93777,00.html
The woman, whose first name is Jane, went before Judge Thomas Ragno in June, seeking political asylum in the United States, saying government soldiers killed her husband and attacked her.
"Jane, come here. Me Tarzan!" Ragno said, according to the woman's doctor, who attended the June 20 deportation hearing to testify as an expert witness about the woman's claims.
"It was disrespectful and insulting, and in my mind it was racist to have a white judge making Tarzan comments to a black woman," said Dr. Sondra Crosby.
Ragno also dialed the weather number on his speaker phone so he could listen to the weekend weather forecast and talked in open court about looking for a new condominium, Crosby said. The judge rejected the woman's bid for asylum.
As part of the woman's appeal of Ragno's decision, Crosby filed an affidavit protesting Ragno's courtroom behavior.
The Executive Office for Immigration Review, a division of the U.S. Department of Justice, placed Ragno on paid leave Monday after learning of the complaint, first reported Monday in the Boston Herald.
Greg Gagne, a spokesman for the office, said the complaint had been referred to the Office of Professional Responsibility, which investigates complaints about Justice Department lawyers and judges.
"There were allegations that raised it to that level," said Gagne, who declined to comment further.
Ragno, who has been an immigration judge for more than 30 years, did not return a telephone call seeking comment. Court Administrator Robert Halpin declined comment, referring calls to the public affairs office of the Justice Department.
Ragno has been the subject of earlier complaints.
In 1996, the Board of Immigration Appeals criticized him for a "skeptical and hostile" courtroom demeanor in a case where he denied asylum to a Sudanese refugee who said he feared he would be killed if he returned to his homeland because of his work with Christian missionaries.
In overturning Ragno's decision, the appellate board said Ragno's behavior was "at the least, injudicial in nature." The man's lawyer claimed Ragno had bullied a priest who testified on behalf of the refugee.
Last year, attorney Jeffrey Goldman filed a complaint after he said Ragno was rude and insensitive to his clients, Russian Jews who were seeking asylum after claiming their son had been murdered because of their religion.
Source:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,93777,00.html