Chapter 11 - I could not investigate the school myself
A reporter called.
Then another.
Then five.
Headline possibilities were obvious:
Judge’s Disabled Daughter Bullied at Elite School
Teen Thrown Into Fountain After Destroying AAC Device
Judge Bennett Confronts Students
I declined comment.
My judicial ethics adviser told me:
“Be careful.”
“I know.”
“You cannot create impression your office is intervening.”
“I know.”
“Do not contact prosecutors in your official capacity.”
“I won’t.”
“Do not call law enforcement supervisors.”
“I won’t.”
I hired:
Education counsel.
A civil-rights attorney.
An independent digital-forensics firm.
As Emma’s parent.
Nothing more.
Then I notified my court’s administrative office of the public controversy involving my family.
Transparency.
May you like
No secret leverage.
The fastest way to destroy a valid complaint would have been to make it look like judicial retaliation.
