{"id":154510,"date":"2026-06-12T15:48:33","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T23:48:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/06\/12\/chief-judge-pryor-decides-no-harm-no-foul-over-judge-rosss-flimsy-apologies\/"},"modified":"2026-06-12T15:48:33","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T23:48:33","slug":"chief-judge-pryor-decides-no-harm-no-foul-over-judge-rosss-flimsy-apologies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/06\/12\/chief-judge-pryor-decides-no-harm-no-foul-over-judge-rosss-flimsy-apologies\/","title":{"rendered":"Chief Judge Pryor Decides No Harm, No Foul Over Judge Ross\u2019s Flimsy Apologies"},"content":{"rendered":"

The most significant penalty the Eleventh Circuit imposed on Judge Eleanor Ross for having sex in chambers, exposing the court to an extortion risk, and then lying about it, was to write her clerks and apologize<\/a>. And even that punishment came with a hefty caveat, as Judge Ross asked to be allowed to write the letters vaguely enough that they couldn\u2019t be used to expose what happened. Her fellow judges, who tried to keep the whole thing under wraps as a private reprimand, agreed.<\/p>\n

Alas, those plans to conceal Judge Ross\u2019s identity fell apart quickly. Eleventh Circuit Chief Judge William Pryor once described me as \u201cone of the great journalists of our time at a venerable institution for investigative journalism<\/a>,\u201d so it was always foolish of him to think we wouldn\u2019t crack this code within an hour<\/a>.<\/p>\n

After Judge Ross\u2019s three-sentence letters went public, she faced renewed furor over violating the spirit of her already meager punishment. This prompted Chief Judge William Pryor, who signed off on the original punishment, to write Judge Ross to determine if her letters amounted to a separate violation. After Ross penned new, more detailed letters<\/a>, Pryor has decided there\u2019s no harm, no foul.<\/p>\n

Sort of like how the original inquiry decided she lied to investigators, but told the truth after it didn\u2019t matter. By the time Ross got honest, the investigation team had reviewed the security footage, interviewed clerks, held simulations to see what could be heard from inside chambers, and already sent her furniture over state lines for laboratory testing. There was hardly anything left to confess at that point. Nobody is as forgiving of \u201ctoo little, too late,\u201d as a federal judge investigating one of their own.<\/p>\n

\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This is why the emerging impeachment push against Judge Ross doesn\u2019t go far enough. If you think Ross\u2019s conduct should result in her removal, then the judges who decided she should stay on the bench AND shielded from public scrutiny also warrant investigation. The fact that having sex in chambers is both salacious and objectively funny obscures the serious extortion risk. Ross was having an extramarital affair with a high-ranking Atlanta cop while presiding over federal criminal cases, which is a textbook example of the kind of information someone could use against a judge. <\/p>\n

The other judges saw the facts that we now agree crossed the line and they decided the right answer was to flip over the cushion and pretend it didn\u2019t happen.<\/p>\n

Honestly, this is why Ross shouldn\u2019t resign. Congress needs to make the rest of the judiciary confront its ethical complacency. <\/p>\n

Earlier<\/strong>: You Will Not Believe The \u2018Apology\u2019 Letter Judge Eleanor Ross Wrote Her Clerks<\/a>
Judge Eleanor Ross Impeachment Arrives Right On Schedule, Managing To Yet Again Botch The Standard<\/a>
Federal Judge Had Sex In Chambers Bringing New Meaning To Gavel Bang<\/a>
Judiciary Tried To Hide \u2018Sex In Chambers\u2019 Judge\u2019s Name. It Left A Roadmap To Identify Eleanor Ross Instead.<\/a>
Federal Judge Weeps For Poor Defenseless Federalist Society, Ruthlessly Bullied By Legal Bloggers<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

\"Headshot\"Joe Patrice<\/a>\u00a0is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. Feel free to\u00a0email<\/a> any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on\u00a0Twitter<\/a>\u00a0or Bluesky<\/a> if you\u2019re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The post Chief Judge Pryor Decides No Harm, No Foul Over Judge Ross\u2019s Flimsy Apologies<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

The most significant penalty the Eleventh Circuit imposed on Judge Eleanor Ross for having sex in chambers, exposing the court to an extortion risk, and then lying about it, was to write her clerks and apologize<\/a>. And even that punishment came with a hefty caveat, as Judge Ross asked to be allowed to write the letters vaguely enough that they couldn\u2019t be used to expose what happened. Her fellow judges, who tried to keep the whole thing under wraps as a private reprimand, agreed.<\/p>\n

Alas, those plans to conceal Judge Ross\u2019s identity fell apart quickly. Eleventh Circuit Chief Judge William Pryor once described me as \u201cone of the great journalists of our time at a venerable institution for investigative journalism<\/a>,\u201d so it was always foolish of him to think we wouldn\u2019t crack this code within an hour<\/a>.<\/p>\n

After Judge Ross\u2019s three-sentence letters went public, she faced renewed furor over violating the spirit of her already meager punishment. This prompted Chief Judge William Pryor, who signed off on the original punishment, to write Judge Ross to determine if her letters amounted to a separate violation. After Ross penned new, more detailed letters<\/a>, Pryor has decided there\u2019s no harm, no foul.<\/p>\n

Sort of like how the original inquiry decided she lied to investigators, but told the truth after it didn\u2019t matter. By the time Ross got honest, the investigation team had reviewed the security footage, interviewed clerks, held simulations to see what could be heard from inside chambers, and already sent her furniture over state lines for laboratory testing. There was hardly anything left to confess at that point. Nobody is as forgiving of \u201ctoo little, too late,\u201d as a federal judge investigating one of their own.<\/p>\n

\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This is why the emerging impeachment push against Judge Ross doesn\u2019t go far enough. If you think Ross\u2019s conduct should result in her removal, then the judges who decided she should stay on the bench AND shielded from public scrutiny also warrant investigation. The fact that having sex in chambers is both salacious and objectively funny obscures the serious extortion risk. Ross was having an extramarital affair with a high-ranking Atlanta cop while presiding over federal criminal cases, which is a textbook example of the kind of information someone could use against a judge. <\/p>\n

The other judges saw the facts that we now agree crossed the line and they decided the right answer was to flip over the cushion and pretend it didn\u2019t happen.<\/p>\n

Honestly, this is why Ross shouldn\u2019t resign. Congress needs to make the rest of the judiciary confront its ethical complacency. <\/p>\n

Earlier<\/strong>: You Will Not Believe The \u2018Apology\u2019 Letter Judge Eleanor Ross Wrote Her Clerks<\/a>
Judge Eleanor Ross Impeachment Arrives Right On Schedule, Managing To Yet Again Botch The Standard<\/a>
Federal Judge Had Sex In Chambers Bringing New Meaning To Gavel Bang<\/a>
Judiciary Tried To Hide \u2018Sex In Chambers\u2019 Judge\u2019s Name. It Left A Roadmap To Identify Eleanor Ross Instead.<\/a>
Federal Judge Weeps For Poor Defenseless Federalist Society, Ruthlessly Bullied By Legal Bloggers<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

\"Headshot\"Joe Patrice<\/a>\u00a0is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. Feel free to\u00a0email<\/a> any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on\u00a0Twitter<\/a>\u00a0or Bluesky<\/a> if you\u2019re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The most significant penalty the Eleventh Circuit imposed on Judge Eleanor Ross for having sex in chambers, exposing the court to an extortion risk, and then lying about it, was to write her clerks and apologize. And even that punishment came with a hefty caveat, as Judge Ross asked to be allowed to write the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-154510","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154510","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=154510"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154510\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=154510"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=154510"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=154510"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}