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A West Virginia local judge elected last year is being suspended for two years for a photoshopped campaign advertisement—published on his Facebook page and elsewhere—that depicted his opponent drinking beer with then-President Barack Obama.
Nicholas County Circuit Judge Stephen Callaghan’s suspension is without pay, and it includes a $15,000 fine. It was imposed (PDF) Thursday by the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia. Incumbent Judge Gary Johnson lost by 220 votes in a May election.
Stephen Callaghan.
In filing ethics charges against Callaghan, the West Virginia Judicial Investigation Commission said the ad was meant to “deceive voters into believing that Judge Johnson and U.S. President Barack Obama were drinking beer and partying at the White House while conniving with one another to kill coal mining jobs in Nicholas County.” The decision notes that Johnson did attend a conference at the White House in 2015, but the visit concerned ways to combat child trafficking. The opinion said Obama was not there at the time and that Johnson and Obama have never met.
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Source: Ars Technica – Judge suspended for photoshopped campaign ad of rival drinking with Obama