Richard Cebull, Federal Judge Who Sent Racist Obama Email, Retires

Richard Cebull, Federal Judge Who Sent Racist Obama Email, Retires
By Ryan J. Reilly
Huffington Post

U.S. District Judge Richard F. Cebull, the federal judge in Montana who sent an email last year suggesting that President Barack Obama's mother had sex with a dog, has retired following an investigation into his conduct.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit announced Tuesday that Cebull had submitted his retirement letter, effective May 3. A special committee had conducted a "thorough and extensive investigation" and submitted their report to the circuit's Judicial Council, which issued a confidential order and memorandum on March 15, according to the court.

In the email forwarded by Cebull, a young Obama asks his mother why he's black and she is white. "Don’t even go there Barack! From what I can remember about that party, you’re lucky you don’t bark!" his mother replies. Cebull told recipients of his email that he hoped it "touches your heart like it did mine."

Cebull, nominated by President George W. Bush, stepped down as chief U.S. district judge in October and took a reduced caseload. He apologized for sending the letter back in the spring.

Richard Cebull, Montana Federal Judge, Admits Forwarding Racist Obama Email
By Melissa Jeltsen
Huffington Post

Montana's chief federal judge admitted on Wednesday that he forwarded an email comparing African-Americans to dogs and implying that President Barack Obama's mother had sex with animals.

Richard Cebull's email, obtained by the Great Falls Tribune, reads: "Normally I don't send or forward a lot of these, but even by my standards, it was a bit touching. I want all of my friends to feel what I felt when I read this. Hope it touches your heart like it did mine."

A joke then follows: "A little boy said to his mother; 'Mommy, how come I'm black and you're white?' His mother replied, 'Don't even go there Barack! From what I can remember about that party, you're lucky you don't bark!'"

Cebull forwarded the offensive email from his official court account to six "old buddies," who then forwarded to others.

In an interview with the Tribune, Cebull maintained he did not send the email because it was racist, but because it was 'anti-Obama.'

"The only reason I can explain it to you is I am not a fan of our president, but this goes beyond not being a fan," Cebull said. He agreed the email was racist, but said he personally was not.

"This is a private thing that was, to say the least, very poor judgment on my part," he said.

I don't understand why this guy wasn't fired. Using ones time and position as a federal employee to promote racist or partisan positions is illegal, with the exception of those serving in elected partisan posts.

While what he did was wrong, in no way, shape, or form is that joke racist. Is this really what we have come to??? Chasing the racist ghost at every turn??? Are we really gonna let asshats like Chris Matthews spread lies that racism only deals with whites wanting to rule the world??? It is that mindset right there that makes many feel that the joke in question is racist. That joke was a slight on Pres Obama's mother and not on Pres Obama himself. It also says nothing derogatory towards any group of people. It does not compare blacks to dogs.

If that joke offends you, grow a pair of nuts and quit being a baby.

Marconius wrote:While what he did was wrong, in no way, shape, or form is that joke racist. Is this really what we have come to??? Chasing the racist ghost at every turn??? Are we really gonna let asshats like Chris Matthews spread lies that racism only deals with whites wanting to rule the world??? It is that mindset right there that makes many feel that the joke in question is racist. That joke was a slight on Pres Obama's mother and not on Pres Obama himself. It also says nothing derogatory towards any group of people. It does not compare blacks to dogs.

If that joke offends you, grow a pair of nuts and quit being a baby.

He was comparing interracial couples to bestiality, that if you have sex with a black man, you might as well be screwing a dog. Even the judge admitted it was racist. In any event, using his government position to spread this type of material is highly unethical and illegal (trust me, they made us take all kinds of training on this kind of stuff...).

Bryant wrote:

Marconius wrote:While what he did was wrong, in no way, shape, or form is that joke racist. Is this really what we have come to??? Chasing the racist ghost at every turn??? Are we really gonna let asshats like Chris Matthews spread lies that racism only deals with whites wanting to rule the world??? It is that mindset right there that makes many feel that the joke in question is racist. That joke was a slight on Pres Obama's mother and not on Pres Obama himself. It also says nothing derogatory towards any group of people. It does not compare blacks to dogs.

If that joke offends you, grow a pair of nuts and quit being a baby.

He was comparing interracial couples to bestiality, that if you have sex with a black man, you might as well be screwing a dog. Even the judge admitted it was racist. In any event, using his government position to spread this type of material is highly unethical and illegal (trust me, they made us take all kinds of training on this kind of stuff...).

No the joke does not say that at all. What is says is "I was so fucked up at that party, I coulda and maybe even did sleep with the housedog as well as anyone else who wanted to root through my pleasure ditch."

This is no slight on you Bryant, but why has reading comprehension taken a dive in recent decades??? I got this crap a lot during the myspace days. I would write something very clear and concise and every single time, someone would read something into it that wasn't there.

If you quit looking for the insult, you will see that there never was one there......except if your name is Ann Dunham.

I dont see anything he did as being illegal. Its not like as soon as you become a part of the government, you surrender all rights to expressing your position, and its not as if he told the joke (or any joke for that matter) while in session or while fulfilling his duties. The way i look at it is, people have freedom to offend and to be offended. Instead, nowadays, ppl behave as if they a right not to be offended.

Pun wrote:I dont see anything he did as being illegal. Its not like as soon as you become a part of the government, you surrender all rights to expressing your position, and its not as if he told the joke (or any joke for that matter) while in session or while fulfilling his duties. The way i look at it is, people have freedom to offend and to be offended. Instead, nowadays, ppl behave as if they a right not to be offended.

According to the article he used his Federal email account, which is only for official government business and can only be accessed from the office (its a computer program, not a website). Conducting partisan activities (he admitted he sent the emails because he dislikes the president) while at work and using ones government position to conduct partisan activities (he used his official email, which is only for official correspondences) are violations of the point of the Hatch Act.

I see. So if he had gone to his private email it would be different? To you personally? What if he had told the joke while speaking at a functions like ben carson at the prayer breakfast? Or lets say the president made a lude joke while speaking. Wouldnt he be using his position to express his opinions?

Bryant wrote:

Pun wrote:I dont see anything he did as being illegal. Its not like as soon as you become a part of the government, you surrender all rights to expressing your position, and its not as if he told the joke (or any joke for that matter) while in session or while fulfilling his duties. The way i look at it is, people have freedom to offend and to be offended. Instead, nowadays, ppl behave as if they a right not to be offended.

According to the article he used his Federal email account, which is only for official government business and can only be accessed from the office (its a computer program, not a website). Conducting partisan activities (he admitted he sent the emails because he dislikes the president) while at work and using ones government position to conduct partisan activities (he used his official email, which is only for official correspondences) are violations of the point of the Hatch Act.

Hey kettle, this is pot. You're black.

I mean really. With all the emailing going around about how to make the sequester feel more painful and then blame it on the Reps, it doesn't surprise me that an email like this is a big deal.

Let's grow up and realize what is really important and which series of emails really do play partisan politics. Quiy chasing smoke.

Pun wrote:I see. So if he had gone to his private email it would be different? To you personally? What if he had told the joke while speaking at a functions like ben carson at the prayer breakfast? Or lets say the president made a lude joke while speaking. Wouldnt he be using his position to express his opinions?

If he did it on his own time, using his own email, he could have said anything he wanted. I'd have thought him a jackass, but a jackass within the limits of his Constitutional rights none-the-less. If the President made a lewd joke while acting in his official capacity it would be highly inappropriate. That said, the laws governing Federal employees in partisan positions (ie Congressmen and their staff, cabinet members, the President, etc) are different than for normal, non-elected/appointed employees. See the Hatch Act for a more detailed discussion.

Marconius wrote:

Bryant wrote:

Pun wrote:I dont see anything he did as being illegal. Its not like as soon as you become a part of the government, you surrender all rights to expressing your position, and its not as if he told the joke (or any joke for that matter) while in session or while fulfilling his duties. The way i look at it is, people have freedom to offend and to be offended. Instead, nowadays, ppl behave as if they a right not to be offended.

According to the article he used his Federal email account, which is only for official government business and can only be accessed from the office (its a computer program, not a website). Conducting partisan activities (he admitted he sent the emails because he dislikes the president) while at work and using ones government position to conduct partisan activities (he used his official email, which is only for official correspondences) are violations of the point of the Hatch Act.

Hey kettle, this is pot. You're black.

I disagree. While I certainly do harbor some partisan views, I was careful to never to inject my political views into my official actions. During the election 7-11 only had partisan coffee cups (one was for Romney, one for Obama). During this period I couldn't bring my 7-11 coffee cup into the office. Likewise I refrained from wearing clothing with partisan symbolism (ie my Californians for Obama t-shirt) or discussing partisan politics with my colleagues. While I was quick to assert my political opinions on my own time in venues not related to my official capacity as a government employee (ie here or Facebook), I was very careful to keep all of that out of my official actions (and no, I did not visit here or Facebook while at work). The Judge, on the other hand, did use his official position and government time to spread partisan views (again, see what he stated his rational for forwarding the email was).

Marconius wrote:I mean really. With all the emailing going around about how to make the sequester feel more painful and then blame it on the Reps, it doesn't surprise me that an email like this is a big deal.

Let's grow up and realize what is really important and which series of emails really do play partisan politics. Quiy chasing smoke.

I can't speak to that. The only emails I got, from the Secretary of Agriculture, discussed how the Agency was trying to minimize the impact.

I cant even remember how many times in just the last year that ive heard about the hatch act and ppl using official emails for shit they shouldnt. But when its a democrat, it barely reverberates in the chamber. This, to me, is not only another distraction from the 4.5m fewer jobs in the country than 5 years ago, but the typical double standard applied by the left.

Remember when obama made his special olympic joke on the tonight show? Probably not, cuz we dont talk about that