Judge Accused of Misconduct Says Drugs Eased Migraines

Lawyers for a judge accused of misconduct for alleged dependence on prescription drugs have argued that proceedings against her violate her civil rights because she used the medications to treat a postpartum illness.

Presiding Antelope Municipal Judge Pamela Rogers said that if she was dependent on prescription drugs it would be a “direct result” of her medical condition--severe migraines--and its treatment.

The Americans with Disabilities Act “prohibits the Commission from proceeding against [Rogers] based up on her real or perceived disabilities,” her lawyer, San Francisco-based Ephraim Margolin, wrote in court papers filed with the California Commission on Judicial Performance, which has the power to unseat judges.

In a notice of formal proceedings, the commission last month accused Rogers of using Demerol, Inderal, morphine and other drugs and said their effects were felt in the courtroom.

Rogers appeared to speak to an empty witness stand, slurred her speech, rambled, was emotionally unstable, had poor short-term memory, was rude and often missed work, the agency alleged. It also said she failed to decide seven issues within the statutory maximum of 90 days.

In her response, Rogers denied that the drugs negatively affected her judgment. She said the case delays were a result of being overworked and her absences were justified by her illness.

She said her lifelong migraines, which are related to estrogen imbalances, became intolerable after she stopped nursing her infant daughter in 1994, the same year she was elected to the bench.

Her HMO doctors recommended surgery and a variety of medications, including the narcotics cited by the judicial commission.

Last spring, she took a leave of absence and went through a four-week residential chemical dependency program and has since been using nonnarcotic drugs to treat her migraines, she said.

“It is indeed ironic that these formal proceedings were initiated immediately after [Rogers’] successful treatment at Scripps Memorial Hospital,” wrote Margolin, who has said that the investigation arose from complaints by defense lawyers and possibly a judge who wants to get rid of her for personal reasons.