Judge Stephen Yekel, 74, was found dead on Tuesday in his own courtroom

Summary

Judge Stephen Yekel, 74, died by suicide in his courtroom on his last day in office after losing a re-election bid.

He was found Tuesday morning at Effingham County State Courthouse, with investigators believing the incident occurred late Monday or early Tuesday.

Yekel, appointed in 2022, had recently attempted to resign but was denied by Governor Brian Kemp.

He was also facing a wrongful termination lawsuit from a former court employee.

  • thefartographer@lemm.ee
    728·
    3 days ago

    Isn’t judge an elected position? As a voter, I’d be pretty pissed if I voted for someone and there were no mechanisms in place to prevent them from going, “whoops, nevermind! Turns out this was not for me!” Like, I’m cool with them saying that and helping create a plan to step down, but we can’t just have elected officials abandoning posts, no matter how qualified or corrupt they are.

      • thefartographer@lemm.ee
        59·
        3 days ago

        I’m not saying that people shouldn’t be allowed to resign. I’m saying that a resignation can’t be as simple as “I quit.” Which Nixon’s wasn’t. He had to submit his resignation to the secretary of state for them to accept; possibly the only good thing Henry Kissinger ever did in his accursed life

    • takeda@lemm.eeEnglish
      61·
      3 days ago

      As I understand, this judge was appointed by Kemp, then tried to resign (probably due to scandal), Kemp didn’t allowed it, then he lost reelection and offed himself.

      Doesn’t look like anyone else voted for him except Kemp.