Tate County Youth Court Judge Leigh Ann Darby Resigns in the Wake of Her Ridiculous Abuse of Power
A few weeks ago I blogged about the plight of three Tate County youths who were arrested and strip-searched for allegedly walking across a neighbor's yard—they were later acquitted of the walking on the grass charges. Darby exhibited a God-complex after the teens' arrest by ordering drug tests and shipping the kids to the Alcorn County Youth Detention Center after a parent asked to talk to a lawyer.
It was pretty clear that Darby abused her power in order to show who was boss of youth in Tate County. The Tate County Board of Supervisors approved a “no confidence resolution” in Darby. It's also my understanding that there was wide-spread outrage about Darby's conduct and calls for her to be fired. Darby beat them to it.
The DeSoto Times reported on Friday that Darby resigned in the wake of the controversy:
"Judge Darby indicated that distractions over the last month had severely reduced her effectiveness to serve and believed that she needed to resign. I appreciate her concern for the court and wish her the best in the future," Lynchard said.
My Take:
Darby had to go. I would have preferred that she be fired. But at least the people of Tate County no longer have to worry about her shipping their kids off to jail for walking on the grass.
Fired? Aren't Youth Court judges elected?