Our petition has just surpassed the 60,000 signature mark, and the pressure continues to mount on Judge Kelly as outraged citizens, victim advocates, and local county officials call on Judge Kelly to resign, or face a recall campaign to remove him from the bench. Yesterday, the cause garnered major traction when three Orange County Supervisors held a press conference near Judge Kelly’s office and announced their plan to file a formal recall. A recall petition would require about 90,000 signatures from residents in his county, after which a spot would appear on next year’s ballot in March to vote for his removal. At the press conference, Spitzer said, “How dare a sworn member of the judiciary tell the family, and through their family, a 3-year-old child, that the sodomy was not brutal,” according to the OC Register. “He must have forgotten that his job is to protect the victim, not the perpetrator,” Supervisor Lisa Bartlett said, according to the LA Times. Bryan Scott, the founder of www.removejudgekelly.com, also spoke at the press conference. He has garnered over 14,000 likes on his Facebook page, and the number continues to pick up steam. In an effort to be transparent, there are some who feel this campaign goes too far. Rojano’s (the convicted child rapist’s) criminal defense attorney, Erfan Puthawala, was quoted by Reuters as saying, “Sometimes the right decision can be an unpopular decision.” He continued, “In this case, it takes a lot of courage to follow the law even though he knew there would be come sort of backlash.” I will leave it to you to decide whether you agree with Erfan that Kelly’s decision was a courageous one. Let everyone know in the comments to this petition update what you think. As for Judge Kelly, he has declined countless attempts at reaching him for comments. His office states that he is unable to comment due to the California Code of Judicial Ethics that prohibits him from making statements on pending cases and litigation. Perhaps Judge Kelly should have read the part in the very ethics manual he now hides behind that states: “Although judges should be independent, they must comply with the law and the provisions of this code. Public confidence in the impartiality of the judiciary is maintained by the adherence of each judge to this responsibility. Conversely, violations of this code diminish public confidence in the judiciary and thereby do injury to the system of government under law.” (http://www.courts.ca.gov/documents/ca_code_judicial_ethics.pdf) Judge Kelly has broken the law, and it has indeed diminished public confidence. An update to this petition will be posted with details after an official recall campaign begins. In the meantime, please continue to spread links to this petition and to the “Remove Judge Kelly from the Bench Facebook” page. Your support for the 3 year old victim in this case has been overwhelming and has made an unquestionable impact in furthering the causes of justice and child sexual abuse awareness. I sincerely thank you.