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How not to keep your job.........
Judge 'Tarzan' benched
by Noelle Straub
Tuesday, August 5, 2003
Boston Immigration Judge Thomas M. Ragno was placed on administrative leave yesterday after complaints he joked about ``Tarzan'' to a Ugandan woman named Jane seeking asylum at a recent hearing.
Ragno will remain on paid leave pending the results of a review of the accusations, which were first reported in the Herald yesterday.
``Obviously the matter just arose today and these allegations were brought to our attention,'' said Greg Gagne, spokesman for the Justice Department's Executive Office for Immigration Review.
Gagne said the matter was referred to the department's Office of Professional Responsibility to carry out the review.
The procedure and length of the process remains unclear.
``This is an internal matter that is open and it would be inappropriate for me to comment,'' said Justice Department spokesman Jorge Martinez.
The woman's request for asylum was rejected by Ragno. Her lawyer has filed an appeal that included an affidavit from her doctor at the Boston Medical Center.
``Jane, come here. Me Tarzan!'' Ragno said at the beginning of the June 20 hearing, according to the affidavit.
``This was overtly racist and degrading and humiliating to both my patient and me, and egregious behavior from a United States official,'' wrote Dr. Sondra S. Crosby, who said her client had been beaten, raped and tortured as a political prisoner and her husband killed.
Ragno also allegedly called the weather number on speaker phone during the hearing to plan his weekend and told the court he was looking for a condo on the South Shore.
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, who has a long history of working on immigration issues, said those seeking asylum have often witnessed ``horrific violence,'' been tortured, or seen family members murdered.
``Our asylum system is meant to offer safety and fairness to those seeking protection,'' Kennedy (D-Mass.) said. ``When that system breaks down because an immigration judge neglects his responsibility, it is not only a travesty to that individual seeking protection, but it makes light of the gravity of our humanitarian obligation.
``These asylum applicants have suffered enough. It is not too much to ask that they be treated fairly and with dignity,'' Kennedy added.
Immigration judges are technically Justice Department lawyers and effectively have lifetime positions. Ragno has been with the immigration division for three decades.
The judge refused comment on the matter and media inquiries to the Immigration Court at the John F. Kennedy Federal Building were referred to a Justice Department public affairs office in Virginia.
Susan Akram, clinical associate professor at the Boston University School of Law, said there have been complaints against Ragno for years and efforts to challenge him both in appeals of cases and directly to the Justice Department.
``But the problem for a lot of immigration lawyers is, if they have to appear before him again they have to worry about how far they can go because he can take it out on them and their clients,'' she said.
In 1996 a federal immigration appeals court slammed Ragno for a ``skeptical and hostile'' demeanor in another case.
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