(TRENTON, N.J.) — A judge who suggested that a woman seeking a restraining order could “close your legs” to prevent a sexual assault was removed from the bench Tuesday by the New Jersey Supreme Court and permanently barred from presiding over a courtroom.
The justices had recommended last summer that Russo be removed from the bench, and a three-judge advisory panel agreed in January.
In court filings and at a hearing in December, Russo expressed remorse for his comments to the woman and for joking about the exchange with court personnel afterward.
The woman appeared before Russo in 2016 seeking a restraining order against a man she said sexually assaulted her.
When the woman answered yes and said one method would be to run away, Russo continued, “Close your legs?
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