Judge Judith Retchin: Fuckin Monster

I heard about this story - read a bit in the WaPo a few days ago - but now, I'm just fuckin speechless. That cruel, cruel fuckin evil bitch.

The earliest article I can find was published October 1, 2004, in the Washington Post. It reads:

Jonathan Magbie, a 27-year-old Mitchellville man, was sent to jail in the District last week for 10 days for marijuana possession.

He never made it home.

Paralyzed as a child and unable to even breathe on his own, Magbie died last Friday after being shuttled between the D.C. jail complex and Greater Southeast Community Hospital.

...

By the standards of D.C. Superior Court, the 10-day sentence rendered by Judge Judith E. Retchin was unusually punitive for a first-time offender such as Magbie. Along with his defense attorney, Boniface Cobbina, a pre-sentence report had recommended probation, and the U.S. attorney's office had not objected.

But Retchin rejected probation alone. A former federal prosecutor who became a Superior Court judge in 1992, Retchin is known to dispense stiff sentences.

Police, she pointed out, found a gun and cocaine in the vehicle in which Magbie was stopped in April 2003. And, despite pleading guilty to the marijuana charge, Magbie told pre-sentence investigators that he would continue using the drug, which he said made him feel better.

"Mr. Magbie, I'm not giving you straight probation," the judge said, according to a transcript of the Sept. 20 proceedings. "Although you did not plead guilty to having this gun, it is just unacceptable to be riding around in a car with a loaded gun in this city."

Details about Magbie's death were first reported by WJLA-TV (Channel 7). Magbie was struck by a drunk driver when he was 4 years old; he was paralyzed from the neck down, and his growth was stunted. Barely five feet tall and 120 pounds, he moved around on a motorized wheelchair that he operated with his chin.

For most everything else, from scratching an itch on his head to flushing his lungs of accumulated fluid, he had to rely on others. Along with his family, he had nursing care 20 hours a day.

The AP ran a short story that same day.

There were a lot of people here who were responsible for killing this dude - a lot of them, but none is more responsible than Judge Judith Retchin who thought it was just a wonderful idea to send this dude - who can't even fuckin masturbate himself! - to jail - as a fuckin first time offender - for possession of mari-fuckin-juana! FUCKIN BITCH!

An early editorial follow-up in the WaPo.

A couple of letters to the editor.

Guess what color Jonathan Magbie was? Really? How can you be so sure he was black? I didn't need to look at the photos of his family - I knew it. White kids don't go to jail like black kids do. The evidence is overwhelming. But who in their right minds would allow their racism to so corrupt their judgement as to send a paraplegic to jail - for being a first-time, non-violent offender?

Colbert King follows up today.

Never mind that the dude didn't own the gun, and obviously he wasn't driving the car. And a paraplegic 'possessing' a gun is just not the same as an able-bodied person 'possessing' a gun. Let's get real.

Was this racist-bitch-prosecutor-turned-judge thinking about a political career? That's what you have to do - put blacks in jail for drugs, right, bitch? Well you ain't gonna slide so easy on this one. You might fare well down in Mississippi, but not here in DC, bitch.

This was not an accident - this was preventable - this was criminal negligence - as close as one could come to murder - and if Judge Retchin is black, who knows, maybe she will be charged with murder. There's always hope.

Yes, Judith Retchin - your day will come. One day you'll be old and frail - unable to wipe your own ass just like the guy you killed. And maybe, just maybe, someone won't come to your rescue. And maybe your death will be as horrible and frightening and painful as it was for Jonathan Magbie. That would be poetic justice. Karma, bitch!