Colorado judge resigns after using N-word and saying “all lives matter” while at work
Judge Natalie Chase said she boycotted the Super Bowl because the players protested police brutality.
A Colorado judge resigned after admitting to using a racial slur in front of court employees and voicing her opinion on racial issues during her work hours. According to CNN, on Friday (April 16), the Colorado Supreme Court issued an order publicly criticizing Judge Natalie Chase, who admitted to using the N-word a few times early last year while driving to Pueblo, Colorado with two court employees — one of whom is Black.
“(She) asked the (court employee) questions about why Black people can use the N-word, but not white people, and whether it was different if the N-word is said with an ‘er’ or an ‘a’ at the end of the word,” the order said. “During the conversation, Judge Chase used the full N-word a number of times.”
Another time Chase used the racial slur was shortly after George Floyd was killed. While two Black employees were speaking about the protests, the former judge said, “All lives matter.”
“One of them asked the other if they had seen the George Floyd protests,” the order read. “Judge Chase then, while wearing her robe and sitting on the bench, told the employees some of her opinions regarding racial justice issues. Judge Chase asked one employee some questions about the Black Lives Matter movement.”
When one of the workers tried to explain Black Lives Matter, “Chase stated that she believes all lives matter,” adding, that “the conduct of the police officers in the George Floyd matter should be investigated.”
In another instance, Chase told two Black employees — while on the bench — that she was boycotting the Super Bowl because she didn’t agree with how the NFL players protested police brutality.
According to the order, Chase acknowledged she “undermined confidence in the impartiality of the judiciary by expressing (her) views about criminal justice, police brutality, race and racial bias, specifically while wearing (her) robe in court staff work areas and from the bench.”
Her resignation will go into effect on May 31.