Judge disciplined for sex in chambers and lying to investigators apologizes for 'offensive conduct

Source: AP

By KATE BRUMBACK
Updated 5:09 PM CDT, June 12, 2026

ATLANTA (AP) — A federal judge who was disciplined after an investigation found that she had sex with a police officer in her chambers and then lied about it wrote a letter to a former law clerk apologizing for her “harmful, offensive, and unprofessional behavior.”

An investigation initiated last year by the chief judge of the 11th Judicial Circuit found that U.S. District Judge Eleanor Ross had sex in the courthouse with a high-ranking uniformed police officer within earshot of staff, attended a partisan event and initially lied when confronted with the allegations. Ross wrote in the letter dated Thursday and obtained by The Associated Press that her “actions were patently wrong, and there is no excuse.”

“You deserved better than to have your experience marred by my own offensive conflict,” says the letter, which was first reported by The New York Times.

Ross was nominated to the bench in the Northern District of Georgia in 2014 by then-President Barack Obama, a Democrat.



Read more: https://apnews.com/article/federal-judge-sex-misconduct-georgia-apology-letter-bb2c02cd98ce72e511154bb1995d137b