"You can't bullshit a bullshitter," Baltimore County District Court Judge Bruce Lamdin told a defendant in his Towson courtroom on April 11, 2006. On the same day, he said to another defendant that "if there is a pile of shit there, you'll step in it," and posed an open question to the courtroom: "But is he one of the biggest dumb asses I've ever seen?"

Lamdin's loose tongue has landed him in hot water with the Maryland Commission on Judicial Disabilities (CJD), which oversees judges' compliance with the state's Code of Judicial Conduct and is scheduled to hold a hearing on charges against Lamdin on June 18. Courtroom recordings, transcribed in CJD's charges filed against Lamdin, reveal that he has lambasted defendants, other judges, other courts, and judicial programs with the colorful style of a stand-up comic. The CJD, after hearing the charges, could either issue a public reprimand against Lamdin, or refer the case to the Maryland Court of Appeals for its consideration.

The specific violations alleged by the CJD involve Lamdin failing to uphold such lofty ideals as observing "high standards of conduct," avoiding "impropriety and the appearance of impropriety," being "dignified," "courteous," and "patient" when carrying judicial duties, and "cooperat[ing] with other judges and court officials in the administration of court business." In response, Lamdin's attorney in January wrote to the commission that the judge, since first learning of the charges after they were filed last November, has "greatly improved his performance" on the bench.

Lamdin's current troubles began on Sept. 2, 2005, as he presided over traffic court. First, during his opening remarks to the courtroom as the afternoon docket began, a woman left the courtroom with her crying baby. "If she only knew how much I hate kids," Lamdin announced, "she would not have brought that kid in here today." Later, two Pennsylvanians charged with speeding came before him, and he asked one of them, "What's the big rush to get back to Pennsylvania? It's an ugly state." Someone present in the courtroom was offended and, in November 2005, filed a formal complaint with the CJD, which then ordered a probe by its investigative counsel, Steven Lemmey.

Lemmey listened to recordings of Lamdin's courtroom proceedings and found numerous instances of questionable remarks made by Lamdin on five days between late March and early April 2006. Then, on June 27, 2006, a defendant who had appeared before Lamdin on May 8, 2006, filed another complaint. This time, Lamdin lashed out at the defendant after she said to him, "your honor, with all due respect," as she sought a postponement of her trial. "Ma'am," Lamdin said, "don't say with all due respect, because to me that means, 'Judge, you don't know what the hell you're talking about.'"

The CJD's charges and Lamdin's written response to them were reviewed recently by City Paper at the commission's Crownsville offices. The charging document contains lengthy transcripts of Lamdin's remarks, explains their context, and spells out which canons of judicial conduct they allegedly violate. Lamdin's response, written by attorney Alvin Frederick, characterizes the charges as arising from statements that were "taken out of context" and asserts that the most recent complaint "unfairly portray[s] what took place" before Lamdin, and adds that "much can be said about a number of the other comments" contained in the complaint. The response ends by stating that Lamdin "respectfully requests that the [CJD] appropriately resolve the charges in this matter."

Phone messages left for Lamdin and Frederick were not returned by press time, and the CJD, as a matter of policy, does not discuss charges against judges. The contents of the charging document, however, portrays a judge who voiced strong opinions from the bench, reminiscent of what one might hear on television from, say, Judge Judy.

Lamdin's statements indicate he holds the Baltimore City jail system in dubious esteem. Regarding a drug defendant before him, he said that "at Division of Correction they'll spank him and probably release him in four months. Down there he can get all the drugs he wants probably." In another case, he told a defendant who had a pending charge in Baltimore City that "you may be able to get some crack down there. Never know about Charm City. Those guards down there provide services for services."

Diversionary programs designed for defendants for whom jail may not be the best option are also singled out for Lamdin's derision. A mother, the victim of her son's crime, asked Lamdin to place her son in a drug-treatment program. Lamdin reacted to the proposal philosophically. "You got the wrong judge today," Lamdin explained. "I am not one of those touchy feely judges that goes for programs where everyone holds hands and sings Kum Bay Yah and they hand out lollipops to each other and gift certificates. I don't believe in that drug court and all that other foolishness." Later in the exchange, he added, "I don't feel like it's the responsibility of the taxpayers to take care of every damn drug addict on the street," and, "I think jail has a telling effect on some people, especially if they are young and dumb like your son is."

Lamdin also suggested from the bench that the judges of the Baltimore County Circuit Court, where jury trials are held, keep their dockets light in order to have leisurely afternoons. In a few instances when defendants requested a jury trial, Lamdin told them that they weren't likely to receive one that day. "They don't like to overtax themselves up there" at the Circuit Court, he said to one. To another, he said of the Circuit Court judges, "They are usually done by lunchtime and then they take the rest of the day off." And to another, "They're all on their way to have cocktails or something up there at the Circuit Court."

In two cases in which defendants had pending prostitution charges in Baltimore City, Lamdin aired his views that the city courts are overly lenient in such cases--though his thoughts, it turned out, were off base. "Why don't we just send him off to Baltimore City," he said in one case, "let him do battle down there. They will quickly release him down there." The defendant in that case was found guilty of prostitution charges in Baltimore City on May 8. In another prostitution case, he told the defendant, "I should just let you go to Baltimore City, they'll give you the key to the city and then send you on your way. They don't do anything to them for prostitution down in Baltimore City, they give them one of those believe stickers to put on their backs. They'll move her into one of the diversion courts, spank her, and send her on her way." The defendant was later found guilty for prostitution in Baltimore City.

On other occasions, Lamdin simply berated defendants--including, in one case, when he suggested a defendant had committed crimes for which he had not been charged. The defendant's last name was Crook, and he was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia and driving without a license. "Why did you drive so poorly?" Lamdin asked Crook. "Smoke a little weed before you got behind the wheel? Smoke a little crack before you got behind the wheel? Well, you've got the appropriate last name. Alright, crack-head Crook. You've got your money all tied up in the next shipment that's coming in?"

Despite his loose tongue, lawyers familiar with Lamdin say he is a good judge. "I've been shown only the utmost respect from Judge Lamdin," says Debra Schubert, speaking "from a personal standpoint" and not in her official capacity as president of the Baltimore County Bar Association. David Irwin, a lawyer for more than three decades who occasionally worked as co-counsel on cases with Lamdin before he became a judge in 2002, says Lamdin is "one of the most decent, best judges I know, and I've seen a lot of judges."

Irwin adds that the CJD charges appear to have had an "ameliorative effect" on Lamdin, who "has a very good sense of humor, and not always politically correct, but he's changed his demeanor in the courtroom and become very correct" in recent months.

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