Judges Behaving Badly: Oklahoma Judge Traci Soderstrom - 500 texts during murder trial, not O.K.!

The Honorable Judge Traci Soderstrom was anything but honorable when it came to how she ran her courtroom, even during a murder trial. 

The Oklahoma Supreme Court investigated her for misconduct after she was caught texting back and forth with her in-court bailiff over 500 times while she sat on the bench during the murder trial of a man accused of killing his girlfriend’s toddler. 

Soderstrom can be seen on camera in the courtroom constantly scrolling through social media and texting insults and comments about witnesses, jurors, and attorneys in the case, especially taking shots at the prosecution and men.  

Court records say the commentary was so offensive toward the state prosecution as to be biased, which Soderstrom denied and insisted she had done nothing wrong.

Despite her insistence that she could be trusted to do her job; the Supreme Court found Soderstrom's actions to be a “gross neglect of duty and bias” and a “lack of temperament to serve as a judge.”

Soderstrom ultimately resigned from her position to avoid losing her retirement. 

This is the first episode in our series of Judges of Behaving Badly. 

Join us for the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “Judges Behaving Badly: Oklahoma Judge Traci Soderstrom: 500 texts during murder trial, not O.K.!”