A Hudson Valley judge who makes almost $200,000 a year is being criticized for thinking he's above the law, and he may be right.

According to reports, Poughkeepsie City Court Judge Frank M. Mora refuses to get vaccinated or wear a mask. Although he's been banned from the courtroom for remaining unvaccinated, Law360 reports that Mora is ignoring the ban and is defiantly working maskless at the courthouse.

The situation highlights what many call an unfair "double standard." State officials claim that they are unable to discipline Judge Mora, while hundreds of other state employees are being fired for refusing to vaccinate. In fact, an officer who works in the very same Poughkeepsie courthouse is now facing termination for refusing to vaccinate while Mora flagrantly flouts the law.

After being denied an exemption to the vaccination mandate, the judge was barred from the courtroom and has been ordered to work remotely. Instead, Mora has been presiding over cases via video chat. However, an attorney and other workers at the Poughkeepsie courthouse report that Mora is still coming to work "on an almost daily basis," refusing to wear a cloth mask.

It's one thing to not want to get vaccinated for whatever reason, but to then refuse to even wear a mask to protect coworkers and the citizens appearing at court is complete lunacy. And the fact that Judge Mora is doing all of this while his coworkers are being terminated for the same behavior is just sickening.

Judges are supposed to uphold the law, no matter what their personal opinions are. If Mora is being ordered to stay home because he's unable to be fired, why is he still showing up at the courthouse in defiance of the order? I don't understand how a judge is supposed to rule against others who pick and choose which rules they want to follow when they're doing the very same thing.

You can click through to the article from Law360 and read some recent comments made by Judge Mora that are being characterized as making light of those who've lost family and friends to COVID-19. If accurate, they paint an ugly picture of the mindset of a man who's tasked with being impartial and showing compassion to the people he serves.

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