This week, a Republican judge in Louisiana, Judge Michelle Odin,
was recorded laughing as she called a black man the n word,
and she didn't say n word.
She used the word with a hard R, and rather than apologize for
saying the racial slur, she decided to go in a different direction, and
gave us a ridiculous excuse that you won't believe before we get to that excuse.
Let's get to, the video in question here, and
then I'll give you her excuse, let's watch.
>> when I pull up in the whip, they'd be saying goddamn like.
>> Hold up.
>> Mom's yelling yet we haven't.
>> That's me.
>> So you can't, I mean, we're not gonna air the word,
but that was the context in which she was saying the word and later,
after getting caught, she did not issue an apology, she issued an excuse.
I was given a sedative at the time of the video,
I have zero recollection of the video, and the disturbing language used during it.
Anyone who knows me, and my husband knows this is contrary to the way we live our
lives, we ask for your understanding, forgiveness, patience, and prayers.
You know, forgiveness is an interesting word to use when you haven't apologized.
[LAUGH] Right?
I mean, Okay, and I know what it's like to be on a sedative,
I've had surgery before a surgery that, conservative hate watchers of
the show love to bring up on a regular basis, this beautiful profile.
Well, the bone structure is natural, but the no structure is not natural,
but anyway, I don't know, I remember being on a painkiller,
and I don't remember ever feeling the urge to use racial slurs like the yard.
>> Well, I got the gas for a dental procedure,
and we'll never know if I would have just blurted out a stream of racial slurs
because they were, like, cracking my teeth apart.
So I couldn't speak, I probably would have, great experience otherwise, no,
that doesn't explain it also.
I mean, as I'm sure it's just the Roseanne thing again like.
>> yeah >> That,
didn't I don't think work well for her, I don't know why it would work better for
a judge who is going to combine a played out awful sorry excuse,
with a complete lack of apology, and then a request for prayers for her.
>> Yeah, no, it's amazing, it really is, and listen, Roseanne is one thing, right?
Roseanne is in the entertainment industry, she's not handing down decisions or
rulings that have an impact on people's lives.
>> I think that make for a good show, though.
>> This is well, we've got there's plenty of content like that out there.
>> We Can I ask you a question?
>> Sure >> Do you think we're just assuming that
she's lying, that she wasn't on the sedative?
>> I am speculating that as well.
>> What if she was on a sedative?
Do you think a sedative, or whatever can get you to
say something you wouldn't have otherwise said if you were lucid?
>> Look, I'm not, obviously, a medical expert, but
I would imagine that most substances are kind of like alcohol, right?
So your inhibitions are lowered, and you might act a little wacky or crazy,
but usually when you're saying things, you tend to be a little more.
If you ask me honest, you get what I'm saying?
>> Totally fundamentally.
Changing who you are.
>> Exactly like a drug doesn't fundamentally change who you are.
If anything, it lowers whatever wall you have up that prevents you
from spouting out things >> Yeah
>> That are not socially acceptable.
This is maybe the more honest her also,
do you believe that in her capacity as a judge, she would extend an incredible
amount of leniency to people who happen to be on some sort of substance?
I mean, after all.
>> That's a great point.
>> They can't control themselves.
>> That's a great point.
That really >> Sort of doubt.
I mean, you could use that reasoning for anything, right?
I mean, I didn't mean I don't have any recollection of robbing the bank,
it's just that I was on a painkiller, I was on a sedative.
I was drunk, whatever.
>> It's the pandemic.
>> Not an excuse.
I've been drinking a ton since the beginning of this,
>> You've been high for a year and
a half solid.
Do we not have to be responsible for
literally anything we've done since early March 2020?
>> It's just It's crazy how often this kind of stuff happens.
You're crazy.
>> I know.
>> Look, its just like what are the people who are supposed to come
before her going to think?
How could they possibly think that they can get a fair shake, from someone
who you just slip a little bit of Ambien in her, and she suddenly dropping n bombs.
Like there's clearly something there, some kind of bias or bigotry.
>> Yeah >> We already know that
a part of the system to see it identified so individually in a person.
Yeah, they would be totally justified to think that there was no chance that they
would get justice before her.
>> Of course. And to be sure, in Louisiana,
this has been an ongoing issue, right?
So, she's been condemned by officials in the state, as that's an obvious,
like condemning this behavior is, I think, the obvious move.
I want to skip ahead to talk a little bit about the state courts, and
how they've grappled with racism for decades.
So there was a report led by former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson,
and he found several instances of racial bias in, the New York State court system.
So this is in Louisiana, but state courts, tend to have these issues,
and if they're having this problem in New York State,
I would venture to say they might have similar problems in Louisiana.
So, for instance, in one form or another, multiple interviewees from
all perspectives still complain about an under resourced, overburdened
New York State court system, the dehumanizing effect it has on litigants.
And the disparate impact of all this, all of this on people of color,
the sad picture that emerges is the effect.
A second class is, in effect, a second class system of justice for
people of color in New York state and also, according to court
officers of color, the use of racial slurs by white court officers is common.
And often goes unpunished, these court officers also told us that they felt they
could not report incidents for bias, for
fear of being ostracized by their fellow officers.
And facing adverse career consequences from powerful, and
entrenched union leaders, so, the Louisiana Black Caucus has called this.
She's an elected judge, called her out, I'll give you one example,
this is from the Louisiana Legislative Black Caucus.
They released a statement saying this, in the event she doesn't resign,
we request that the Louisiana Judiciary Commission.
Immediately appoint an ad hoc judge to hear cases in her division investigate
this incident and ultimately remove her, I do think an investigation
should be done to see if her racial bias has played any role.
in the decisions that she's made were supposed to have a justice system,
not a racially biased system.
That has double standards based on your skin color period.
>> Stand for something.
>> Yeah.