This is another one sent to me by Me ToSee.
Judge Facing 21 Misdemeanor Charges Resigns – AJC
I ran across this one fairly recently as well but it was on a day with virtually no blogging time so I skipped it at that point.
Back in December Diane Busch, a (former) magistrate judge in Marietta and Woodstock, GA threw a party and there were teenagers drinking there.
Police ended up getting called to her house around 3am on December 22nd and police saw teenagers drinking on the property. Ten of them were cited, four of them as adults because they are over 17. The others were charged as juveniles.
Busch was asleep at the time and when she was awakened she told police she would rather have them drinking at her home rather than out driving around. She also said that the party was intended to be adults only. Actually, I happen to agree with her, at least for the most part. The fact is, teens are going to drink and as a responsible parent do you want them sneaking around out in public or would you rather have them where you can keep an eye on them? Our rule after my son turned 17 was that he could have an occasional beer at home. After he graduated High School and was preparing to go into the Marine Corps so he could serve his country with his life we had a pretty big going away party. Mostly adults and family members but some of his friends attended as well. We made sure that those parents knew there would be alcohol at the party and that we would be allowing them to drink so if they didn’t approve of that their sons needed to stay at home.
Anyway, it seems that Busch allegedly used to her position to try and mitigate charges against at least one of the youngsters and this has become a pretty big deal in the area. Busch has tendered her resignation and one of the assistant solicitors in the case has also resigned as well.
Busch is now facing 21 misdemeanor charges from the party for allowing the drinking to go on at her property.
This is one of those unfortunate grey areas to me somewhat like a 19-year-old not being able to date a 17-year-old, for instance. It’s fucking stupid but it is illegal and as long as you are willing to break the law you have to be willing to face the consequences. I was originally going to file this one under “Bad Parents” but under the circumstances I can’t do that with a clear conscience. Her only mistake was in allowing children other than her own to drink and without parental permission and then trying to make it go away.
