Back in February, the local news had great fun over the DUI arrest of Boston-based federal court judge Robert Somma, who had rear-ended a pick-up truck with his Mercedes Benz and then failed a field sobriety test and a breathalyzer. The kicker is that the accident occured after Judge Somma, who is married and was appointed by President Bush, had left a gay bar in Manchester wearing a black cocktail dress, fishnet stockings and high heels. Since he was alone, he was obviously unlucky in more ways than one.
The Boston Herald wouldn’t put a virtually-unknown bankruptcy judge on the cover for a DUI arrest unless he appears to be wearing blue eye shadow in his mugshot. The paper could hardly contain their glee over the police report, which described Somma’s vampy outfit and how Somma “fumbled” in his purse to retrieve his license, presumably because he was so wasted. Or maybe he just had some purse clutter to contend with.
Judge Somma immediately resigned from the bench, but an article in today’s Globe reported that Somma is reconsidering his resignation because of the “outpouring of support from judges, lawyers, and others.” Somma decided that “the media frenzy occasioned by this episode would not be an impediment to my continued service as a judge”).
I’m glad and frankly surprised that there are people within the federal judiciary who are open-minded enough to accept that a man with cross-dressing tendencies can still be a competent judge and want to continue to work with him. But in their eagerness to overlook his salacious proclivities, are they not also overlooking the fact that Somma was driving while intoxicated enough to cause an accident?
Judges are supposed to be incorruptible civic bastions of integrity, virtue, and most importantly… good judgment. But we live in an age where no one who is white, educated and successful has to take responsibilitity for their actions. So what may end up happening is Somma pays $600, gets a yearlong driving suspension, apologizes for “that terrible lapse of judgment” and returns to the bench, where everyone will wonder if he’s wearing a short black black dress underneath his long black robe.
