"How do you plead, Judge Ballentine?" "I'm innocent, Judge Ballentine!" "I find you credible. Case dismissed, Judge Balentine! See you in the mirror!"
Judge Kelly S. Ballentine, a Pennsylvania district court judge, apparently avoided paying $268.50 in parking tickets by dismissing her own cases. Two of the three tickets issued to her were for overtime parking, and the other was for an expired registration. She has been charged with tampering with public records, obstructing the administration of law and participating in activities that are prohibited due to a conflict of interest.
Yes, I’d say that was a fair assessment of the situation.
Ethics Alarms thanks the ABA Journal for the story.
Ethics Alarms 
Unreal! At least she’s (temporarily) removed from the bench – though it is an outrage that she’s STILL BEING PAID while the cases are being adjudicated. It’s no wonder that the most outrageous cases of judicial abuse seem to be those in which judges are elected rather than vetted and appointed. Not that all appointments are good – but at least there seems to be more accountability, rather than self-serving popularity contests within communities. And getting back to a prior post – do you think the local board of bar overseers will sanction her for her unethical conduct?!
Judge Ballentine, and all judges for that matter, should be beyond reproach so it goes without saying that she should pay for her actions. Having stated that, for the most part her crime is a relatively victimless crime. Let’s see if the “powers that be” in Florida punish a judge (and ex-prosecutor) who is a criminal—a criminal that has willfully and egregiously left victims in his wake—as harshly as he should be punished. The Florida judge (and former prosecutor) is David P. Kreider. In Alachua County Florida (i.e. “Gator Country”) Judge David P. Kreider is currently under fire for his proven crimes and we should be reading a story about his criminal prosecution before too long. Judge David P. Kreider’s proven criminality is, amongst other things, a stain on the judicial system and his crimes committed under the color of law are irrefutable. That being the case it is an undeniable fact that David P. Kreider should lose his judgeship, lose his license to practice law, be permanently barred from practicing law, serve a prison sentence… For the record, Judge Kreider and his corrupt cronies have been reported. The Alachua County Family and Civil Justice Center (in Florida’s 8th Judicial Circuit and under the administration of Chief Judge Martha Lott) and the State Attorney’s Office of the 8th Judicial Circuit of Florida (along with its Chief Investigator Spencer Mann), as well as other agencies, are now aware of the crimes carried out by Judge Kreider and his co-conspirators. The aforementioned agencies have been provided with more than 100 pages of documentation. This documentation includes an organized and detailed report and comprehensive supporting evidence of criminal activity perpetrated by Judge David P. Kreider and his co-conspirators during the “Gibson case”. All judges must be held fully accountable and be made to honor the same laws that they subject average citizens to on a daily basis.
Judge Kreider is extremely biased. He supports his prosecutors 100 percent. He violates defendants constitutional rights and allows prosecutors to use unethical tactics. For example he denied a Motion to Suppress illegally obtained video evidence. Didn’t allow key witnesses to speak for the defendant. Prosecutors had 13 witnesses and the defendant was not permitted any witnesses. He also made hurtful remarks to the defendant and was laughing and smiling like they were a joke during most of the hearings. Every time the public defender objected he would say sustained. But when the prosecutors objected he would say overrule. Also some of the jurors were friends or related to the prosecutor and or law enforcement. Didn’t even take in consideration that she has no criminal history. She didn’t have a chance. We are definitely appealing.