Md. Judge Ready to 'Fight Back'
Jurist, Backers Go Public After Uproar Over Rape Ruling
By Phuong Ly, Washington Post Staff Writer
Originally published in The Washington Post, March 27, 2002
If he had it to do over again, Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Durke G. Thompson would never utter the words: "It takes two to tango."
He still would reproach the family of an 11-year-old girl who corresponded with men she met on the Internet, even as he was sentencing one of those men for molesting her, Thompson said recently in a rare interview.
But not with the headline-grabbing remark that two years ago led women's advocacy groups to vilify him and scour his courtroom record for signs of bias.
This month, Thompson gave them fresh ammunition. In a move that he himself noted was extraordinary, the judge overturned a jury conviction and ordered a new trial for a man accused of second-degree rape.
The ruling has prompted Montgomery State's Attorney Douglas F. Gansler to consider asking that Thompson recuse himself from all cases involving female victims or female prosecutors. The county's National Organization for Women and the Women's Legislative Caucus in Annapolis are calling for Thompson's resignation.
The controversy has shaken the Montgomery Judicial Center, raised questions about judicial independence and put reputations at risk as both sides file complaints with disciplinary commissions.
So much is at stake that Thompson and his supporters have launched a public campaign to clear his name—an unusual step among judges, who rarely make comments beyond the courtroom.
"If you don't fight back, you will pay a price," Thompson, 59, said in his first extensive interview. "I'm not going to let them stomp me into the ground. If they think otherwise, they've got another think coming."
Thompson said he is being unfairly targeted for the "two to tango" comment, words that he said were taken out of context and for which he apologized.
His supporters recently took to the TV microphones and praised him just before an anti-Thompson rally was to begin.
Some female lawyers have volunteered stories about how Thompson mentored them. His wife, Lea Thompson, a reporter for "Dateline NBC," asked how her husband could be biased against women when he helped raise three daughters and did most of the cooking for the family.
While accusing his critics of seeking publicity for political gain, Judge Thompson and his supporters have decided that speaking out is the best defense.
Usually, cases make headlines, not judges. Judicial elections are rarely contested, and few people outside the courthouse crowd recognize judges by name.
Until the "two to tango" incident, that was true of Thompson, who joined the bench in 1994 and holds an elected seat until 2011. The appeals court has not given him an unusual amount of attention.
He has overseen high-profile sexual assault cases, but his decisions in those did not prompt protest.
In 1998, Thompson acquitted a school bus aide of 12 counts of sex offense involving special education children. Thompson attributed the aide's penchant for physical roughhousing in part to a "cultural dimension" of the man's Iranian heritage. The judge also said the young accusers' statements sometimes appeared coached.
The next year, Thompson supported parental concern about sexual harassment when he dismissed a defamation suit against parents who had complained about a track coach. Thompson said he was afraid such suits could deter children from reporting improprieties.
In comparison, the case that made Thompson well known had received scant attention, in part because the defendant wasn't a school employee or street attacker. The Alexandria man had been caught in the girl's bedroom with his pants around his ankles.
Thompson said in the interview that he was only trying to warn the girl's father to watch his daughter when he said in court that the girl, who had been part of graphic Internet chats, was not "free of fault."
Critics said Thompson improperly assigned blame to the girl, and they started scrutinizing his record. Annapolis lawyer Maureen Quinn wrote a letter alleging that Thompson had denied too many protective orders and was condescending to her and her female domestic-violence clients.
Documents from the state Commission on Judicial Disabilities show that in a six-year period, Thompson heard 131 requests for restraining orders and denied at least 16. The court's other judges heard a total of 121 and denied one.
Two law professors contacted by The Washington Post said the statistics seemed inconclusive. The commission issued a warning to Thompson about his choice of words in the "two to tango" case but dismissed the complaints of misconduct.
Thompson filed a counter-complaint against Quinn, which was dismissed as well.
Montgomery NOW leaders, who support Quinn, said they watched Thompson for another ruling to prove their point. On March 1, Thompson didn't disappoint.
He granted Robert Thornett Jr. a new trial, saying he considered it a "viable theory" that the alleged victim may have been seeking revenge because Thornett had refused to marry her.
That afternoon, Gansler's office issued a news release titled "Two to Tango Judge Dances Again."
"This judge supplanted his personal opinion over that of a jury's, and that undermines the jury system," Gansler said.
Gansler said that many of Thompson's supporters are defense lawyers and that "obviously they are pleased to have Judge Thompson on their cases."
Members of the women's legislative caucus said the state judicial commission, which meets secretly, is loath to discipline judges. Del. Sharon Grosfeld (D-Montgomery) said Thompson might have arrogantly felt that "nothing, if anything, is going to happen to him."
Thompson's staunchest defenders, though, are women. More than 50 women signed a petition to the judicial commission on his behalf when the complaints were lodged two years ago. Four of his eight law clerks have been women.
His wife said he raised his three daughters to be strong and opinionated. He attended more of their swim meets and soccer games than his career-driven wife did.
"He even has a female dog," said Lea Thompson, who met her husband at the University of Wisconsin. "He's been surrounded by women all his life, and he's been very supportive of them."
Judge Thompson grew up in Bethesda, graduating from Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School. After law school in Wisconsin, he came home to practice civil and criminal law in a private firm for 27 years.
A former colleague said people may misinterpret Thompson because he can be formal, not "warm and fuzzy." A former law clerk described him as an even-tempered gentleman who never cursed or disparaged others.
Jo Fogel, a family law attorney who has complained about gender bias by other judges, has found no fault in Thompson's courtroom manner. "I've never heard him demean either side," Fogel said.
The court's other judges have declined to comment on the controversy. County bar association leaders said the attacks could chill judicial independence.
Thompson would not comment on the rape case because it is pending, but he said he is determined to remain independent.
His heritage attests to such defiance. A great-aunt was born on a Conestoga wagon on the way west, and a grandfather, a mail sorter, was a victim of a train robbery. Thompson, a history buff, lobbied for state money for abolitionist John Brown's cabin and then helped restore it, log by log.
Thompson said he was well aware of critics who had packed the courtroom when he ruled in the Thornett case. "I don't care whether they're there or not," he said. "I do what I'm going to do."
Still, he acknowledged, he will have to watch his language.
Known for his long pontifications, Thompson said "two to tango" just rolled off his tongue when he chastised the girl's family. If only, Thompson said ruefully, he had told them, "Wake up and smell the coffee."
