Stephen C. Aldrich
From Ballotpedia
Stephen C. Aldrich was a Minnesota district court judge serving in the Fourth Judicial District in Hennepin County. Aldrich was first elected to the court in 1996, and was then re-elected in 2002 and 2008.[1][2]
Aldrich retired on disability, related to his hearing loss, on October 29, 2010.[3]
Education
Judge Aldrich received his B.A. degree from Grinnell College in 1963 and his J.D. degree from the University of Minnesota in 1971. He also attended Union Theological Seminary from 1963 to 1965.[2]
Professional career
Judge Aldrich began his career as a Budget Examiner for the U.S. Bureau of the Budget in 1965. He then worked as an admissions counselor for Grinnell College in 1967 and 1968. His legal career began in 1971, when he worked as a law clerk to Judge Philip Neville of the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota. The following year, he became Assistant Counsel to the Minnesota State Senate. He then worked as an assistant city attorney for St. Paul from 1973 to 1975. After this, he ran his own law firm, called the Aldrich Law Offices," from 1975 until 1997.[2]
Asked to resign
WATCH, an organization in Minnesota that monitors courts, issued a request in November 2009 that Aldrich resign from his seat because of several remarks he made while on the bench.[1]
The court-watching organization said that on October 21, at a hearing to consider a request by a woman that the court issue a restraining order against her husband, Judge Alrich said, "I've been married 45 years. We've never considered divorce; a few times murder maybe."
Aldrich has apologized for the remarks, and said, "I tried to use humor to lower the tension in the courtroom and in retrospect I chose the wrong words. Throughout my 15 years on the bench, and for 25 years before, I have acted forcefully to protect victims of abuse and their children, and to issue or seek Orders For Protection justified by the facts and law."[1]