Judge's liberal-bashing book causes stir

~ Circuit judge welcomes criticism and claims his lawyers say the book doesn't break any rules.

ST. LOUIS -- A book by a veteran St. Louis judge, due out this week, is causing a stir in political and legal circles for its sentiments on "femifascists" and "illiberal liberals."

And some say it could cost him his job.

The liberal-bashing book by St. Louis Circuit Judge Robert H. Dierker Jr. may become available publicly this week, but the official rollout is scheduled for next Tuesday on conservative TV host Bill O'Reilly's show.

Crown Forum, an arm of publishing giant Random House Inc. that specializes in nonfiction from a conservative point of view, is the publisher.

The first chapter of "The Tyranny of Tolerance: A Sitting Judge Breaks the Code of Silence to Expose the Liberal Judicial Assault," has circulated for weeks via e-mail and been widely read in legal circles, lawyers and judges told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

The chapter, which frequently uses the term "femifascists" and is titled "The Cloud Cuckooland of Radical Feminism," prompted a complaint with the state body that can reprimand or remove judges.

Other judges and lawyers have said Dierker may have violated a state rule against a judge using his or her position for personal profit.

Dierker, however, said he welcomed the criticism and said his own lawyers say the book doesn't break any rules.

Dierker's fellow judges would not comment publicly, but there was a public shot at Dierker earlier this month.

At a Dec. 18 judges' meeting to discuss hiring a spokesman, Circuit Judge Jimmie Edwards suggested that person might also function as a "judges' book review" to prevent them from "offending the bench."

Lynn Ricci, president of the Women Lawyers' Association of Greater St. Louis, said she had read the book and finds it disturbing.

"I frankly think that it is a shame that this very smart man has lowered himself to name-calling," Ricci said.

"It appears that he's cloaking his own personal preferences against women in alleged legal research and a partial examination of the law," she added.

Dierker has been on the bench since 1986 and has repeatedly been passed over for advancement.

St. Louis residents voted to retain Dierker last month. Ninety percent of lawyers who voted in a bar survey said he should be retained.

Dierker says the numbers show he is not a "fringe operator," and he does not have that reputation in the courthouse.

But lawyers could cite the book as evidence Dierker can't be impartial on matters involving women, liberals or the American Civil Liberties Union, and force him to be removed from cases.

Dierker said he is always fair in the courtroom. "Conservative judges are much more likely to know where their biases are and how to draw the line," he said.

State Sen. Joan Bray, D-University City, filed a complaint with Missouri's Commission on Retirement, Removal and Discipline last month, citing her concerns with the first chapter.

She said she plans a follow-up complaint, based on conversations with lawyers and judges, that would include a complaint that Dierker was violating judicial rules by using his position to promote the book.

Dierker writes that the views in the book are "personal, and should not be construed as any indication of how I would rule on any case coming before me. No public resources were used in the preparation of this work. The use of my title is strictly for identification."

Dierker said he would fight any challenge vigorously.

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Information from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, http://www.stltoday.com