The Slatest

Judge Reprimanded for Saying Some “Girls” Are “Temptresses” Who Are “Asking For It”

An Alaska oil rig, probably not unlike the one Judge Dooley worked on before becoming a judge.

Photo by Tim Aubry/AFP/Getty Images

On Tuesday the Alaska Commission on Judicial Conduct issued a formal complaint against Nome Superior Court Judge Timothy Dooley. The complaint accuses Dooley of serious judicial misconduct—including misogynistic comments in the courtroom—which could lead to public sanctions like suspension or even dismissal. Among the most gallingly sexist accusations outlined in the complaint:

  • In a sentencing hearing, Dooley said: “Has anything good ever come out of drinking other than sex with a pretty girl?” 
  • In a sentencing hearing where the victim was a 14-year-old girl, Dooley said: ”This was not someone who was, and I hate to use the phrase, ‘asking for it’. There are girls out there that seem to be temptresses. And this does not seem to be anything like that.”
  • When asking jurors whether they could hear a soft-spoken female witness, Dooley said: “I’m sorry folks, but I can’t slap her around to make her talk louder.” 

The complaint also notes several bizarre remarks Dooley made regarding religion and culture:

  • In a civil trial with unrepresented litigants, Dooley said: “I’m gonna enforce these oaths and they’re enforceable with a 2-year sentence for perjury. And I’d be the sentencing judge. I also have a medieval Christianity that says if you violate an oath, you’re going to hell. You all may not share that, but I’m planning to populate hell.” 
  • At a sentencing hearing, Dooley stated: “What you’ve done with this young girl, it’s a strange thing, routinely done in Afghanistan where they marry 6 year-old girls. In our society, and in the society of the local tribal communities, supposed to be totally forbidden.” 

Dooley, who was appointed by Gov. Sean Parnell in March 2013, lived a rugged, adventurous life before he donned the judicial robes. In his earlier life, he worked as a firefighter, a logger, a coal shoveler, a miner, a farmer, a rancher, and a substitute Japanese teacher. He also worked on an oil rig, at a sawmill, and as a bear and wolf patrolman around an oil pipeline. 

If the commission declines to relieve Dooley of his judicial duties, Alaska voters will have another opportunity to do so soon. Dooley faces a retention election in 2016.