Harriet Thompson Removed

Harriet Thompson, a Kings County Surrogate's Court judge in Brooklyn whose 14-year term began January 1, 2019, was abruptly removed from her judicial duties in December 2021 and barred from nonpublic areas of the Johnson Street courthouse in Downtown Brooklyn, following a 20-page sworn affidavit from New York's state Chief Administrative Judge, Lawrence Marks. The affidavit alleged Thompson made remarks in the courthouse, in the presence of Unified Court System personnel, denouncing Hispanic people as "promiscuous liars" and calling homosexuality "an abomination."

It also alleged she made negative comments about people from the West Indies and about overweight coworkers, and accused female judicial colleagues of trading sexual favors for their positions on the bench. She resigned effective March 1, 2023 (days before her misconduct hearing) and stipulated never to seek judicial office again