It's not my fault. I was drunk.

MANIFESTO

A case that has enthralled the Constitution State for the past few months was resolved today.

E. Curtissa R. Cofield, the judge captured on video using racial epithets after her drunken-driving arrest, was suspended today for 240 days.

The Judicial Review Council unanimously found Cofield guilty on all five counts that she violated the Code of Judicial Conduct. The council's charges included invoking her position as a judge to influence and intimidate police, as well as violating the code by driving drunk and using disparaging, demeaning and racially inappropriate language ...

Cofield told the council that she had trouble recognizing herself in a two-hour video recording of her booking at Glastonbury police headquarters.

"My use of racially insensitive language is reprehensible, incomprehensible and regrettable," said Cofield, who attributed her insults "to my intoxicated condition, as I am not a racist."

Under questioning by council members, Cofield retreated from a previous claim made under oath that she only had two drinks on the night of her arrest.

"I don't have an accurate recollection," she said today. "Perhaps I shouldn't have taken a guess."

... But the panel focused more on her conduct after the arrest, such as using racial slurs and referring to State Police Sgt. Dwight Washington as "Mr. Negro Washington."

Last month, the council found sufficient cause to hold a disciplinary hearing and released the video of her booking, which became widely viewed on the Internet.

"When I watched the video, I did not recognize myself," Cofield said. "It was as if I was having an out-of-body experience."

Great. Just what the state needs: a judge who's a self-admitted psychotic.

Personally, I'm getting a little tired of public servants who break the law but then are nevertheless allowed to become Secretary of the Treasury, or who are allowed to regain their judgeship after eight months.