U.S. District Judge Eleanor Ross, who was disciplined after an investigation found she had sex with a police officer in her chambers and then lied about it, has written a letter to a former law clerk apologizing for her conduct.
The letter, dated Thursday and obtained by the Associated Press, was first reported by The New York Times. In it, Ross wrote that her “actions were patently wrong, and there is no excuse.”
“You deserved better than to have your experience marred by my own offensive conflict,” the letter said, according to the AP.
The apology comes weeks after the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals disclosed that Ross had been privately reprimanded. The investigation, initiated last year by the circuit’s chief judge, found that Ross had sex in the courthouse with a high-ranking uniformed police officer within earshot of staff, attended a partisan event, and initially lied when confronted with the allegations.
Ross was appointed to the federal bench by President Barack Obama. The 11th Circuit’s chief judge, William Pryor, oversaw the investigation.
MSI previously reported that Ross received a private reprimand for the misconduct, a sanction that drew criticism from judicial ethics watchdogs who argued the discipline was insufficient given the severity of the findings.