A video that depicted Judge William Adams beating his daughter Hillary was painful to watch. The consequences for the judge’s career will be even more painful.
The Texas Supreme Court suspended Judge Adams from his duties today.
Although the court did not make the reason for the suspension public, it doesn’t take much inference to link it to the beating incident. After Hillary Adams posted the video on Reddit, it prompted widespread outrage, including vigilante justice from 4chan’s /b/ board.
Even if Adams’ colleagues weren’t offended by his private behavior, they may well have felt forced to act by the disruption caused by online vigilantes to the court’s operations.
Judge Adams told the International Business Times that the beating “not as bad as it looks,” but found little sympathy.
Internet users were calling for his removal almost immediately after the video went public. When the Daily Dot previously wrote about the video, we reported that a Facebook page called Don’t Re-Elect Judge William Adams had 9,000 supporters. That number has now grown to 36,500.
That page has filled up with messages expressing outrage, as well as humorous image macros mocking Adams.
The video itself has now been viewed 6 million times.
Hillary Adams tweeted today that she’s feeling positive about the suspension.
“Happy… I feel more content with myself now,” she wrote.
Before the news of her father’s suspension broke, she also wrote:
“I keep wanting to say something about how incredible and deep the Internet is, but it would be so cheesy.”
Image via Don’t Re-Elect Judge William Adams