Indicted Shelby County judge suspended for second time by state conduct board
Shelby County Criminal Court Judge A. Melissa Boyd has received another suspension from the Tennessee Board of Judicial Conduct in the wake of an indictment alleging she harassed her campaign manager.
This is Boyd's second suspension from the board, and she was first suspended by the board in May this year after her campaign manager reported drug use and harassment to the board. That suspension was listed as indefinite, but "not to exceed six months" in length.
That May suspension was initially not released publicly, but the board said Boyd had violated the terms of the suspension order and it was released as part of her second public reprimand.
Her first suspension expired at the end of November, and the new suspension was publicly released Thursday by the board.
The new suspension does not have an expiration date and was filed after an indictment charged Boyd with coercion of a witness, a Class D felony, and harassment, a Class C misdemeanor. The suspension went into effect immediately after it was filed Thursday.
"During this term of suspension, Judge Boyd is prohibited from exercising any judicial power or authority, including, but not limited to, holding court, issuing subpoenas, setting or resetting cases, issuing warrants, setting or changing bonds, administrating oaths, or issuing oral or written rulings in any matter," the board wrote in the suspension order.
The suspension order is the latest in an ongoing saga of alleged misconduct that Boyd has been at the center of and is the third public reprimand from the board within a year.
Boyd's first reprimand came in early May when the board reprimanded her for wearing her judicial robe in a picture posted to Facebook. The post that accompanied that picture, according to the board, was asking for donations to benefit a school.
"Judges are expected to maintain the highest standards of conduct at all times," the reprimand read. "Conflating judicial office with promoting the private interests of others is prohibited. Here, you lent the prestige of judicial office to advance the private interests of others by soliciting money and resources on social media."
During this time, Boyd was being investigated by the board for allegations levied by her former campaign manager. Those allegations included Boyd using marijuana and cocaine, and also said she would arrive at her campaign manager's house, intoxicated, and comment on relationships she may or may not have had.
Boyd is also accused of using her role as judge to threaten the manager, saying "shut up" and to "not mess with her because she is a judge."
Boyd's initial suspension came on May 23 for these allegations and was made public after she violated that suspension order. That violation resulted in her second reprimand, and the board referred her to the Tennessee General Assembly
for further action.
Throughout the scandals, Boyd has been collecting her salary as the board does not have the power to remove or reduce it. The board also cannot remove a judge, which was stated in the board's letter to the General Assembly. The state legislature is the only body with the ability to remove an elected judge.
When Boyd's suspension went into effect, it was publicly dubbed a leave of absence for an undisclosed illness. Her predecessor, Judge Mark Ward, was slated to take over the Division 9 docket but never ended up returning to that position.
Ward lost a bid for reelection to Boyd in 2022.
In the time Boyd has been off the bench, Shelby County Criminal Court Judge Chris Craft has handled her docket.
Lucas Finton is a criminal justice reporter with The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at Lucas.finton@commercialappeal.com, or (901)208-3922, and followed on X, formerly known as Twitter, @Lucasfinton.