Judge Marcus Gordon of Decatur, MS; Judge Roy Bean Wannabee, despot

The state of Mississippi presented Marcus D. Gordon with a law license in 1959 after he graduated from the University of Mississippi Law School.

FYI:Judge Roy Bean was an infamous Justice of the Peace and saloon owner in Texas who called himself the "The Law West of the Pecos." Roy was also affectionately referred to as the Hanging Judge.

Marcus has had his significant snout firmly implanted in the public trough for 41 of the past 44 years (ca. 2971 to 2015). Apparently, no self-respecting law firm in the greater Decatur area was about to offer Marcus a good paying job.

During his tenure on the bench, Judge Gordon has found it acceptable to repeatedly trample on a defendant’s constitutional due process rights. It would appear that Marcus is of the belief that the term “due process” is the means by which the grass becomes moist in the a.m. in Decatur.

When poor people are brought before Marcus on felony charges, he doesn’t feel compelled to follow the mandates of the U.S. Constitution. Towards that end, Marcus refuses to appoint counsel to these indigent (poor) arrestees until they have formally been charged by an indictment. In some cases this means they languish in jail without any legal representation for as long as a year. (Brandon Buskey, staff attorney, ACLU’s Criminal Law Reform Project)

When queried about his repeated violations of a defendant’s constitution right to counsel that has left them imprisoned for many, many months, Marcus the Despot said:

• “The criminal system is a system of criminals.”
• “Sure, their rights are violated.”
• “That’s the hardship of the criminal system.”

The mere fact that Marcus would make such an astonishing admission should lead to an ethics investigation being undertaken by the Commission on Judicial Performance. This could and likely should lead to Marcus being tossed off the bench.

Sadly, it is apparent that Marcus feels quite comfortable with “dispensing with justice” rather than “dispensing justice,” as his oath of office mandates.

As we speak (ca. December 2015), Markus continues to sit as a Circuit court judge in Decatur, Mississippi.