A magistrate who remarked on the ‘relentless rise in the acceptability of’ absent fathers has been issued with formal advice.
Elizabeth Slamer JP became the subject of a complaint to the Midlands Region Conduct Advisory Committee after a letter entitled ‘Single parenthood’ was published in The Times newspaper on 26 July.
The letter - written by Slamer and which included her status as a family court JP - was sent in response to a letter about the failure of the Child Support Agency.
Slamer’s letter remarked on the ‘relentless rise in the acceptability of’ absent fathers rather than of ‘single mothers’, a spokesperson for the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office said.
Responding to the complaint, Slamer stated that she had ‘reacted in the moment to a perceived unfairness in the original author’s comments, who she considered had unfairly identified single mothers as the sole reason for the problem of demands on benefits and housing’, the spokesperson added. She accepted that she had failed to consider the lack of impartiality her letter could indicate.
Slamer accepted full responsibility for her actions and admitted that she had included her judicial status in the letter to add weight to her argument and highlight her experience. The spokesperson explained that magistrates are required to avoid use of the ‘JP’ status in ways that could be perceived as trying to gain influence.
The spokesperson said: ‘Mr Justice Keehan, with the lord chancellor’s agreement, has issued Ms Elizabeth Slamer JP with formal advice for misconduct.'
‘Ms Slamer should have known that by using her JP status to add weight to a public debate, she risked damage to the public’s view of her own impartiality and that of the wider magistracy. In agreeing to issue Ms Slamer with formal advice, they took into consideration that she had taken full responsibility for her actions, had apologised and given an assurance that she would not repeat the behaviour again.’
