An Alabama judge just got removed from the bench for racist and sexist conduct in a rare unanimous ruling

Accountability is on the rise. Days after a well-known North Carolina judge was accused of attempting to drive over Black Lives Matter protesters, another judge made headlines for not one but numerous allegations. Talladega County Probate Judge Randy Jinks was suspended for making sexist and racist comments to employees, according to a 78-page complaint filed by the Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission.

But that's not the end of it. Jinks has made headlines again, this time because a court ruled that he must be removed from the bench. He was removed after the Judiciary Court ruled he had violated numerous Canons of Judicial Ethics and created a hostile work environment by demeaning both employees and citizens. The Friday ruling was not only unanimous but very rare in the state of Alabama, as judges almost never get removed.

The decision follows a complaint issued in March in which Jinks was accused of "frequent inappropriate demeanor," with more than 100 allegations of creating a toxic and hostile environment. Jinks allegedly not only initiated racist conversations, including remarks about the Black Lives Matter movement, but talked about pornography and women, NBC News reported.

His remarks were caught on a tape in which he not only spoke openly about his political views (including supporting the 'Stop the Steal' movement), but repeatedly made inappropriate comments to the office's only Black employee, a clerk. He even apparently had a tantrum over a missing sandwich, which he allegedly blamed the clerk for stealing.

According to the complaint document, in one instance Jinks allegedly minimized the police killing of George Floyd.

"I don't see anything wrong with the police killing [Floyd]," Jinks told an employee during a phone conversation, the report said. He allegedly also referred to Floyd as "just another thug" and said "he pretty much got what he deserved." The complaint report also noted that Jinks would mouth the n-word when referring to Black people and told a deputy clerk that Black people get benefits and welfare "because of the color of their skin."

Prior to his suspension, Jinks denied that he made that remark, telling the commission, "There exists no excuse for the killing of George Floyd, that watching the video is sickening, unconscionable, inhumane and horrifying."

In an interview in March with WOTM-TV, he said: "I'm the same Randy you know — the same Randy you voted for and supported two years ago. I am a decent person. I am very respectful around women. I do not use racial slurs. I do not go off on tirades in the office. I do get mad if someone steals my food."

He added that while he has "made some errors...the majority of these vicious, vile and vulgar accusations are nothing to fear." Apparently unfazed by the possible consequences, he continued: "They can say what they want, they can't hurt me."

Yet recordings confirmed otherwise.

Additionally, when Jinks' only Black employee bought a new car in 2019, the judge allegedly asked him if he sold drugs to afford it. "What you doing, selling drugs?" he asked Darrius Pearson, who had testified that in May 2019.

He also reportedly agreed when another employee referred to the same Black employee as a "typical lazy, good-for-nothing Black man," the complaint stated.

The complaint also highlighted allegations of sexually inappropriate behavior in the workplace, stating that the judge's "inappropriate demeanor disgusts, embarrasses, and upsets those employees who have routinely witness it."

According to the document, the judge frequently spoke about his sexual preference to employees and detailed his physical relationship with his wife. He even allegedly sent a video of a woman performing a striptease to an employee and insisted that he watch it even though the employee said he was busy with work. In another incident, he told an employee he liked the way a woman "burnt his sausage."

While Jinks claimed his comments were made during private conversations, evidence showed that they were made during work hours and at the workplace.

Jinks was infamous for unprofessional conduct, including often cursing at his employees.

In its ruling Friday the court said that while Jinks had been accused of having a "racially insensitive demeanor," the court felt as though his actions far exceeded that. It ordered that Jinks not only pay for the hearing but be removed from the bench immediately. "Although the complaint alleges 'racially insensitive demeanor,' this Court is of the opinion that Judge Jinks' conduct rose above racial insensitivity," the court said in its final judgment.

Jinks, who was sworn into office in 2019, has overseen adoptions and guardianships, mental health commitments, and the issuing of marriage licenses. He does not have a legal background. According to NBC News, having a legal background is not a requirement for probate judges in nearly all counties in Alabama.

Despite the evidence, numerous complaints, and March suspension, Jinks failed to acknowledge what was wrong with his behavior. In a Saturday statement, his lawyer claimed that prior to being in office and openly identifying as a Republican he had "never been accused of being racist"

"Judge Jinks' remarks were taken completely out of context and cast in a light calculated to besmirch the judge's character and further the accusatory employees attempts to remove him from office," Jinks' lawyer Amanda Hardy said.

She added that "closer scrutiny should have led to a more measured response to this case." According to Hardy, Jinks is still deciding whether to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court of Alabama.