Thomas Files Reelection Papers for ‘Protection’

Maxine F. Thomas, the judge placed on leave after erratic behavior that included stopping court to fix a fingernail and lying curled up in her chambers, has filed for reelection, her attorney, Johnnie L. Cochran Jr., said Thursday. But he said she may not actually run.

Cochran said Thomas, 40, filed for reelection to protect herself in her petition for disability retirement. She is currently under a doctor’s care for continuing emotional and job-related stress, he said.

Thomas had to file by Wednesday, and Cochran said she did so some time ago. She is being challenged by Municipal Court Commissioner Stephen Leventhal and attorney Merle Horwitz.

“The filing is just to protect yourself,” Cochran said. “You have to be a judge at the time you file for disability.”

The disability petition was filed in January with the Commission on Judicial Performance, which evaluates the state’s judges, said Jack Frankel, commission director. If she is granted disability retirement, Thomas would be paid a partial salary the rest of her life, Cochran said.

Thomas was ousted as presiding judge of the Los Angeles Municipal Court in a June, 1986, action after fellow justices complained that she played favorites in making court assignments, was frequently absent and used her position as a springboard for a Superior Court election campaign. She was soundly defeated in that quest in November, 1986.

Last November, she was placed on medical leave after stopping a court hearing to request glue to fix a fingernail and was found lying semiconscious in a fetal position in her chambers.