Injudicious
The Chief Justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court has recommended that Lincoln County District Court Judge Traci Soderstrom, 50, be removed from the bench. Judge Soderstrom, who took office in January, seems not to pay much attention to the goings-on in her courtroom, in one case scrolling through Facebook, and sending more than 500 text messages from her phone — during a trial over the murder of a 2-year-old. Her messages mocked the prosecutor, praised the defense, and called a key witness a liar, Chief Justice John Kane IV wrote, which constitutes “gross neglect of duty, gross partiality[,] and oppression.” The man who beat the infant to death was convicted — of second-degree manslaughter — and sentenced to time served, while the child’s mother was sentenced to 25 years for “enabling child abuse.” That apparent inequity is perhaps explained by one of Soderstrom’s text messages during the trial: “State just couldn’t accept that a mom could kill their kid so they went after the next person available.” (RC/AP) ...Objection! Assumes facts not in evidence.Story Update: Facing a public trial of her own for removal, Soderstrom resigned in February 2024. She signed an agreement to not seek another judicial position in Oklahoma, and waived her right to appeal. She conceded it was “inappropriate” to send texts during any trial.
On the other hand, she denied some of the accusations, and said the reason for resigning was so she wouldn’t be silenced from revealing other misconduct by others in the system. Prosecutors said it was simply a diversionary tactic.
Danker (the mother), meanwhile, has not appealed her sentence: it was actually the result of a plea deal, which she took because prosecutors were pushing for her to be executed.
This story is in True’s book collections, in Volume 30.
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