Douglas County Probate Judge In Hot Water For Social-Media Posts

DOUGLASVILLE, GA — A Douglas County probate judge has been charged with four counts of violating Georgia’s code of judicial conduct for her 2020 social-media posts, one of which solicited birthday gifts of money.

Judge Christina Peterson, in office for only six months, is in trouble for activity on her public Instagram and Twitter accounts before she officially took office, according to a report from Atlanta news station WAGA-TV.

Charges from the Judicial Qualifications Commission allege that two of Peterson’s Instagram posts traded on her status as a judge-elect to promote events at Buckhead restaurants. And in another Instagram post in August, Peterson asked for birthday gifts by writing “If anyone feels like sharing their quarantine wealth, cashapp $cjspesq.”

Although her Instagram account — #officialchristinaj — was public and clearly identified herself as “judge elect,” Peterson later claimed that she thought only friends could see it.

“I was wondering on that day why I was getting Cash App from people I didn’t know,” Peterson later told investigators, as quoted by the document with formal charges from the commission. “And so I noticed — I realized — somebody contacted me in my inbox and say (sic) they are posting this on Douglas County page and things like that.”

The posts have since been deleted.

“Public solicitation of gifts to a judge is extraordinarily problematic,” Emory Law professor Michael Broyde said to Fox5 reporter Randy Travis. “I would like to have a case before a judge who I’ve made a cash gift to. Wouldn’t you?”

Also, the charges allege, Peterson posted relationship advice to her Twitter account referring to a “homeless-sexual” and “African-American male genitals.”

According to the document with charges, filed earlier this month, “Violations of the Georgia Code of Judicial Conduct support discipline when they amount to ‘willful misconduct in office’ or ‘conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice which brings the judicial office into disrepute.’”

Peterson has until Aug. 16 to answer the charges.

Read the story on the Fox5 website.