On April 9, Michael Toole, a Pennsylvania judge convicted on corruption charges, was sentenced to 2½ years in prison. After the sentencing, an incident occurred involving another judge that hasn’t gotten much play. Judge Ann Lokuta, who works in the same court, happened to walk past a group of the convicted judge’s supporters in search of a bathroom. One of the supporters was court employee Jim Dougherty, who allegedly yelled to Lokuta, “The men’s room is over there.” According to a witness to the event (a newspaper reporter) everyone in the group laughed. Judge Lokuta has filed a complaint with the state Supreme Court judge for an inappropriate sexist comment by a court employee. Judge Lokuta said that the motive for Dougherty’s comment is longstanding animosity directed at her by Toole and his allies.
Such slurs directed against women in power are all too common. We heard them when Janet Reno was head of the Department of Justice. We heard sexist brickbats of all types directed at Hillary Clinton. Rush Limbaugh called Senator Mary Landrieu a “high-class prostititute,” and Senator Harry Reid called fellow Senator Kirsten Gillebrand the “hottest member of the Senate.”
No one doubts that these accomplished women can ignore such comments and move on—they wouldn’t be where they are if they hadn’t endured a career of rising above demeaning remarks. Comments like these happen every day in our workplaces, neighborhoods, and families. And they do real damage—a study last fall found that when it comes to female politicians, for example, slurring the candidate with sexist names such as “ice queen” and “mean girl” undercuts her political standing far more than does criticism of her policies.
So if what happened to Judge Lokuta occurred as reported, then someone in that crowd should have had the courage to say, “No, that’s inappropriate,” “Hey, that’s not cool,” or “Hey, leave the sexism at home buddy.”
Judge Lokuta is standing up for herself, but she shouldn’t have to do that alone. Every time that someone else has the fortitude to speak up, it gives another person the courage to follow their example the next time. And conversely, it makes potential perpetrators more fearful of launching a sexist slur—because next time, they just might find themselves as the object of disfavor.
Steve
