Texas judge disciplined for remarks about Jews, Muslims

A Texas judge was admonished publicly for referring to a district attorney as a “New York Jew” and insulting another prosecutor’s beard, saying it made him look “like a Muslim.”

In a ruling released Monday, the state’s Commission on Judicial Conduct admonished Tinsley Schildknecht of the 106th District Court in Lamesa. The commission required Schildknecht to obtain four hours of instruction on recognizing and eliminating explicit and implicit bias and/or prejudice, Texas Lawyer reported.

The admonition, which also criticized Schildknecht for holding marathon court sessions that lasted until 4 AM, said the judge last July referred to District Attorney Michael Munk as a “New York Jew” in a private conversation with the DA’s secretary and later told Munk and another attorney, “When I tell people why you [Munk] are different and have different thoughts, I explain [it is] because you are from New York and because you are Jewish.”

In her written responses to the commission, Schildknecht said, “I may be too blunt, but I am not biased or prejudiced against New Yorkers or Jews.”

The admonition said that last September, Schildknecht told an assistant district attorney, “You look like a Muslim and I wouldn’t hire you.” In her written response, Schildknecht could not remember making the comment but said the situation was “faintly familiar.”