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Married federal judge repeatedly had courthouse sex with law enforcement officer, complaint alleges – Judicial misconduct panel found ‘gross lack of judgment’ but issued only a private reprimand

&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"wpcnt">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"wpa">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<span class&equals;"wpa-about">Advertisements<&sol;span>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"u top&lowbar;amp">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<amp-ad width&equals;"300" height&equals;"265"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; type&equals;"pubmine"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; data-siteid&equals;"109460728"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; data-section&equals;"1">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;amp-ad>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-ada2e42f2f505dcd306696d089a29b3f wp-block-paragraph" style&equals;"color&colon;&num;260606&semi;font-size&colon;14px"><strong>Courthouse whistle blower lodged complaint that a married federal judge repeatedly had noisy courthouse sex with law enforcement officer<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-13ac41944803ae1f95dd052125de0459 wp-block-paragraph" style&equals;"color&colon;&num;260606&semi;font-size&colon;14px"><strong><strong>Judge Eleanor Ross of the Northern District of Georgia was subject to a private reprimand for having sex in the workplace with a high ranking law enforcement officer during an extra-marital affair<&sol;strong><&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-656402883448004af82aeef42b103744 wp-block-paragraph" style&equals;"color&colon;&num;260606&semi;font-size&colon;14px"><strong>The Judicial misconduct panel found &&num;8216&semi;gross lack of judgment&&num;8217&semi;&comma; but issued only a private reprimand <&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-ccb097dcd25db4ea7ba5c1d0db0e9d24 wp-block-paragraph" style&equals;"color&colon;&num;260606&semi;font-size&colon;14px"><strong>Judge Ross agreed to the sanctions imposed which include writing letters of apology to six former law clerks who were interviewed in the probe<strong> of the two-year long affair<&sol;strong><&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-77c02de0ec8f74ef9088e9abdc9d5e7f wp-block-paragraph" style&equals;"color&colon;&num;260606&semi;font-size&colon;14px"><strong>She also agreed to forgo service as the chief judge in the federal district and refrain indefinitely from sitting on any Judicial Conference committee <&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2026&sol;05&sol;Eleanor-Ross-1&period;png" alt&equals;"" class&equals;"wp-image-498612" style&equals;"width&colon;784px&semi;height&colon;auto"&sol;><&sol;figure>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph"><strong>Judge Eleanor Ross of the Northern District of Georgia was subject to a private reprimand for having sex in the workplace with a high ranking law enforcement officer during a two-year long extra-marital affair<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph">The federal judge has been disciplined for having sex in their chambers with a high-ranking law enforcement officer within earshot of staff&comma; attending a partisan political event and for lying to superior judges who investigated the claims&comma; a disciplinary committee revealed&period;<br>The married federal judge repeatedly had sex with a law enforcement officer inside courthouse chambers while clerks worked just outside the office door&comma; then falsely denied the affair when confronted&comma; a judicial misconduct report alleges&period;<br>Federal Judge Eleanor Ross&comma; 58&comma; of the U&period;S&period; District Court for the Northern District of Georgia received a private reprimand following an investigation into a two-year extramarital affair with an Atlanta police commander&period; <br>Law clerks reported hearing explicit noises from her chambers&comma; and investigators confirmed the misconduct via security footage and logs after the judge initially blamed staff for the allegations<br>Multiple clerks overheard &&num;8220&semi;kissing sounds&comma;&&num;8221&semi; &&num;8220&semi;moaning&&num;8221&semi; and other sounds consistent with sexual activity coming from the judge’s private office over a period spanning roughly two years&comma; the judicial complaint filed in the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals stated&period;<br>One clerk reported hearing the officer say the word &&num;8220&semi;affair&comma;&&num;8221&semi; while another described being so disturbed by the noises that the clerk left work for the day&period;<br>The report did not provide the name or gender of the U&period;S&period; District Court judge&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2026&sol;05&sol;Deputy-Chief-Kelley-Collier-1&period;png" alt&equals;"" class&equals;"wp-image-498623" style&equals;"aspect-ratio&colon;0&period;87625&semi;width&colon;823px&semi;height&colon;auto"&sol;><&sol;figure>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph"><strong>According to Bloomberg Law&comma; the Atlanta police brass who allegedly&comma; had an extra-marital relationship with Judge Eleanor Ross is Deputy Chief Kelley Collier of the APD <&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph">Investigators found the judge engaged in &&num;8220&semi;gross lack of judgment&&num;8221&semi; by conducting the alleged affair with a prominent police commander whose department regularly appeared in federal court&comma; creating what the panel called the possibility of conflicts of interest or the appearance of impropriety&period;<br>The judge initially denied the allegations&comma; calling them &&num;8220&semi;outrageous&&num;8221&semi; and &&num;8220&semi;baseless&comma;&&num;8221&semi; and suggested a law clerk fabricated the claims in retaliation for workplace discipline&period;<br>Investigators reviewed courthouse security footage and sign-in logs&comma; and interviewed former clerks before the judge later admitted to both the affair and having sexual intercourse inside chambers&comma; according to the complaint&period;<br>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The U&period;S&period; Court of Appeals has not identified the police officer as being a member of the Atlanta Police Department&comma;” an Atlanta PD spokesperson said in a statement&comma; adding&comma; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;However&comma; the Atlanta Police Department has made an inquiry with the U&period;S&period; Court of Appeals into the identity of the officer in question&period;”<br>Not withstanding&comma; the officer was identified by the person familiar with the situation as Deputy Chief Kelley Collier&comma; a 22-year veteran who commands the department’s community services division&comma; according to Bloomberg Law&period;<br>Collier&comma; 55&comma; is the community services division commander with the Atlanta PD&comma; according to his bio on the agency’s website&period;<br>However&comma; it should be noted that Judge Ross did not preside over any case in which the officer or the police department was a party between January 2022 and October 2025&comma; according to the committee report&period;<br>The report also found the judge attended a partisan political event tied to a district attorney’s campaign and later made false statements to Chief Judge William Pryor and the court’s chief district judge during the investigation&period;<br>Investigators said the judge’s alleged conduct distracted staff&comma; damaged workplace morale and risked undermining public confidence in the judiciary&period; The report further warned that the undisclosed affair left the judge vulnerable to potential blackmail because the relationship was hidden from the judge’s spouse and colleagues&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2026&sol;05&sol;Deputy-Chief-Kelley-Collier-2&period;png" alt&equals;"" class&equals;"wp-image-498621" style&equals;"aspect-ratio&colon;0&period;7379019162065605&semi;width&colon;823px&semi;height&colon;auto"&sol;><&sol;figure>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph"><strong>Ross initially denied allegations as &&num;8220&semi;outrageous&&num;8221&semi; and &&num;8220&semi;baseless&&num;8221&semi; lies a law clerk fabricated in retaliation for workplace discipline&period; After investigators reviewed courthouse security footage and sign-in logs&comma; interviewed former clerks&comma; she later admitted to the affair and sex&period; However&comma; she didn&&num;8217&semi;t preside over any case in which the officer or the Atlanta PD was a party&comma; while the affair lasted &&num;8211&semi; between Jan 2022 and October 2025<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph">After the judge who was the subject of the complaint was notified by the chief circuit judge&comma; they submitted a response that denied the allegations&comma; calling them &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;outrageous” and &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;baseless&comma;” the decision said&period;<br>A special committee was then appointed to investigate the allegations&comma; which<br>The disciplinary committee&comma; comprised of seven judges&comma; upheld the findings of judicial misconduct issued in February by the Judicial Council of the 11th Circuit&comma; the federal appeals court circuit that handles cases arising from U&period;S&period; District Courts in Alabama&comma; Georgia and Florida&period;<br>Despite the findings&comma; the judicial council issued only a private reprimand&period; <br>The 11th Circuit imposed sanctions on the judge&comma; who agreed to them&comma; which included ordering that they write letters of apology to six former law clerks who were interviewed in the probe&comma; forgoing service as the chief judge in the federal district where they sit and refraining indefinitely from sitting on any Judicial Conference committee&period;<br><&sol;p>&NewLine;

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