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Summary: U.S. District Judge Mark Fuller has announced he will resign.
After being arrested for battery of his wife on Aug. 10 of last year, U.S. District Judge Mark Fuller escaped facing the charges after he completed a pretrial diversion program of counseling for domestic violence. He seemed to have intentions of holding on to his lifetime appointment as judge, despite both Republican and Democratic members of Congress preparing possible impeachment proceedings. Even though the Alabama GOP Sens. Richard Shelby and Jeff Sessions, who voted to confirm him, later called for his resignation, Fuller held on. Now he has ended the nine months of debate on whether a federal judge in his position should keep his job: as of Friday he has announced his resignation.
Fuller will resign as of Aug. 1, nearly a full year since his arrest. Nor will he sit on further judgments until that time, and in fact hasn’t done so since his arrest.
The fervor of whether a man arrested and seemingly guilty of battery should sit in judgment of others was intensified with the national focus on professional football player Ray Rice who lost his job for domestic violence.
“If an NFL player can lose his job because of domestic violence, then a federal judge should definitely not be allowed to keep his lifetime appointment to the federal bench,†Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Ala., had said.
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The battery charge was brought against Fuller after his then-wife called 911 claiming her husband had thrown her to the ground and kicked her after she accused him of having an affair with a law clerk. Her mouth and forehead were cut up.
Fuller, 56, has not served enough to qualify for senior status, nor could he collect on retirement.
“It is his hope that the president will move swiftly to fill the vacancy created by his resignation and he looks forward to the next chapter in his life,†said his attorney, Barry Ragsdale. “Judge Fuller has expressed to the president his honor and privilege in having served as a United States district judge, a job that he truly loved. Judge Fuller regrets resigning, but he recognizes that it is best for his family and the judicial system that he do so at this time.â€
While this does not officially answer whether a man in his position is qualified to maintain his post, it does at least give a sense of justice to those seeking to impeach him.
News Source: USA Today
