ANONYMITY A MYTH FOR TOKING JUDGE

You'd think you could hide in the dark at a rock concert five hours from
home.

You'd think you could forget that you're an elected judge and wallow in
nostalgia for two hours, remembering your youth, before responsibility fell
on your shoulders.

You'd think that when someone passed a joint down your row, and it wound up
between your own thumb and forefinger, you could lift it to your lips and
take a puff, for old times' sake.

But the night has a thousand eyes. And so did that Rolling Stones concert on
Oct. 12 at Detroit's new Ford Field.

On The Hot Seat

Traverse City District Judge Thomas Gilbert, who is 45 years old, must have
scanned the stadium packed with 45,000 middle-agers like him and relaxed
into anonymity.

But a woman from Elk Rapids recognized him. She, too, was 250 miles from her
home, which is in Gilbert's district.

She watched as he took two puffs from that joint.

And a few days later, she turned him in to his boss, who has not released
her name.

Gilbert, cornered, admitted his mistake and last week took a voluntary leave
from his job. He faces the possibility of censure, suspension or removal
from the bench.

In a statement he said, "I broke the law by twice puffing on a marijuana
cigarette. . . . My misconduct was observed by a local citizen who did the
right thing by bringing this to the attention of the court . . ."

"I extend my deepest apologies, pledge that this will never happen again,
and hope and pray that the community will eventually forgive me for my
reckless actions."

I, for one, have forgiven him already.

Lighten Up

I know, I know, he's a judge and should have known better.

Nobody disputes that he violated the Michigan Code of Judicial Conduct which
says quite clearly: "A judge must avoid all impropriety and appearance of
impropriety. A judge must expect to be the subject of constant public
scrutiny. A judge must therefore accept restrictions on conduct that might
be viewed as burdensome by the ordinary citizen . . ."

Yes, he was stupid.

But geez, if you can't be a little bit stupid at a Stones concert, where can
you be?

A Detroit police officer says nobody was arrested for smoking dope at the
concert. "So much was going on there," says Officer Andrew Smith, "that you
couldn't have gotten everybody. It was very smoky."

Some smokers "were tossed out," he said, but not arrested.

Like it or not, what Gilbert did is barely illegal anymore. Using marijuana
is a misdemeanor in Michigan, punishable by no more than 90 days in jail and
a $100 fine. In Ann Arbor, you get only a $25 ticket.

Like Ann Arbor, 12 states levy only fines for pot use, from Alaska and
California to Mississippi, Maine and even Washington, D.C.

But geography is destiny, and barely illegal is illegal enough. The New York
Post, however, published news about Gilbert's mess under the headline "Weird
But True."

I found myself wondering if Gilbert would be under the gun if he were turned
in for something else, if someone saw him making an illegal left turn, for
example, or witnessed him shooting at a buck in his backyard the night
before opening day.

In any case, I'd advise him and any other judge to limit future
transgressions to a locked closet in the basement, behind the furnace, if
possible, at 4 a.m., maybe on Christmas morning, when the busybodies of the
world might not be watching.