Judiciary
Federal judge had in-chambers sex with top police officer, judicial conduct committee concludes
A judicial conduct committee has confirmed findings that U.S. District Judge Eleanor Ross of the Northern District of Georgia had sex inside her chambers during work hours with a high-ranking police officer and within earshot of clerk staff. Her identity and court location were initially undisclosed. (Photo by Eleanorlross, CC-BY-SA-4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
Updated: A judicial conduct committee has confirmed findings that a federal judge had sex inside her chambers during work hours with a high-ranking police officer and within earshot of clerk staff.
On Friday, the U.S. Judicial Conference’s Committee on Judicial Conduct and Disability upheld the February decision made by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at Atlanta regarding U.S. District Judge Eleanor Ross of the Northern District of Georgia, whose identity and court location were initially undisclosed.
A person close to the situation identified the judge’s name to Bloomberg Law.
According to the report, the judge “routinely” heard criminal cases during the time period of the extramarital affair with the officer, which spanned from October 2023 to October 2025. Ross was nominated to the Atlanta-based court by former President Barack Obama and confirmed in 2014 by the U.S. Senate.
The conduct “demonstrated a gross lack of judgment” and resulted in a “chambers workplace that was extremely uncomfortable and troubling for clerks,” according to the report and coverage by Bloomberg Law.
“Although the special committee is deeply troubled by the conduct in which the judge engaged, the subject judge has demonstrated a strong propensity for rehabilitation and continued diligent service to the judiciary,” the report said.
The judge was given a private reprimand and consented to writing letters of apology to the law clerks interviewed in the investigation, agreed to not serve as chief judge in the future, and to refrain from service on Judicial Conference committees.
Updated May 28 at 12:32 p.m. to include additional information and reporting on the judge’s identity.
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