It isn’t my usual “beat” to look for celebrity news however, actress Charlize Theron has just shown us that anyone can fall prey to poor ethical judgments. In a posting that appeared on eonline (August 8, 2014) by Natalie Finn entitled: “Charlize Theron Adoption Drama: Alabama Judge Who Disclosed Confidential 
Details Banned From the Bench,” we encounter that stars are not immune to the lack of ethics from those around them.
According to Ms. Finn:
“An Alabama judge has been banned for life from the bench in that state after becoming the target of an ethics probe—and one of the allegations against him was that he disclosed confidential details on social media about the Oscar winner’s adoption of son Jackson back in 2012.”
The judge, Circuit Judge Mike Maggio, likes to play around online. Maybe he also likes celebrity. In any case he decided to go on a Louisiana State University sports forum under the screen name of “geauxjudge,” and post that Theron had adopted a baby.
Not letting well enough alone, after he wrote the post, somebody else asked him: “Did she get herself a black baby?” Maggio who, above all people, should have known better answered, “Yes.”
Maggio admitted to disclosing adoption details. He has stepped down from the bench
“’I take full responsibility for the comments that have been attributed to me,’” Maggio said back in March. “’I apologize deeply for my lapse in personal judgment and for that, I have no excuse. The comments posted were not acceptable. These comments are not a reflection of who I am.’”
He has agreed to never run for judge again.
Who is the gatekeeper?
The laws governing adoption are very strict. I may not know them and you may not know them, but a circuit court judge must know them. Was he swept away by the anonymity of the internet, was he so in love with the fact that he was close to stardom that he felt he had a piece of inside information or was he engaging in ugly and idol gossip?
To the first point – and I say this in my talks whether in a sports setting, business, nonprofit or association setting. There is nothing truly anonymous about the online media any longer. The social media is not a friend, especially to a judge. Other than talking about the weather, or one’s grandkids or maybe where you found a nice, cheap tie, most anything may be considered an opinion – and that’s a dangerous thing to post. He probably felt that “geauxjudge,” was invisible; not so, your honor.
As far as being close to stardom; to Charlize Theron, I understand that as a society, often by virtue of the constant drum-beat of the internet, many want to get not only close to stardom but almost inside of it. It is an obsession that has gotten increasingly worse. There has been a proliferation of the gossip media; we want to know everything. Judge Maggio knew something. The fact that he had to share it on a public forum was completely unethical.
Here is something the judge – and most of us, should always keep in mind. Stars such as Charlize Theron are also human beings. They do all of the things other human beings do, including getting older and one day, losing the shine of their stardom. They have the right to be private and to live their private lives.
Why the judge had to engage in what I will call borderline racism, I will never know. He went right to where the other poster on the forum wanted him to go. Even at that late point, Maggio could have logged off before disclosing the child’s race. He chose to not do so. In a world where there are so many children in need of adoption, truly, honestly, does it make a difference? Apparently to the poster and to Maggio.
Much of this mess and the judge’s ban could have avoided with good ethical training. I am advising more and more people each and every day about what not to post and what not to post. However, people can only learn if they want to learn. Sometimes, it takes hitting rock bottom; Maggio has just hit.
I am not gloating, just wondering what the judge has learned.
YOUR COMMENTS ARE WELCOME.
