The Region : Judge Admits Gift Offers

Los Angeles Municipal Judge Maxine Thomas acknowledged that she offered two U.S. Supreme Court justices free Rose Bowl tickets and side trips to Hawaii and Arizona if they would swear her in as presiding judge, a post she no longer holds. However, Justices Thurgood Marshall and Sandra Day O’Connor declined the invitation to last January’s ceremony. “I certainly wanted to start out in the best way possible,” Thomas said, defending her offers. “I started at the top.” Last month, fellow judges voted to strip Thomas of the administrative post, after complaining that she assigned high-visibility cases to her supporters. Thomas remains a Municipal Court judge and is running for a Superior Court seat.