Judge who criticized death penalty system suspended 90 days

A state disciplinary panel ruled an Alabama judge violated judicial rules with her criticism of how death penalty cases are handled. The Alabama Court of the Judiciary ruled Friday that Jefferson County Circuit Judge Tracie Todd had violated the canons of judicial ethics with her comments and actions in death penalty cases. Todd made national news five years ago when she ruled the state’s capital punishment law unconstitutional. Her ruling was later overturned. The court suspended Todd for 90 days without pay. However, since she had been suspended with pay while the ethics complaint was heard, she was eligible to return to the bench this week.