Upstate Judge Who Posted Photo of a Noose on Facebook Resigns

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Kyle R. Canning began his judgeship at Altona Town Court in Clinton County in January 2018 and about a month later on Feb. 18 on his public Facebook page he put up a picture of a noose {snip}.

The 29-year-old man — who received an $8,702 salary for the position — didn’t remove the post until six months later after the Commission sent him a letter about it August 27, 2018, the commission said.

“The noose is an incendiary image with repugnant racial connotations,” Commission Administrator Robert H. Tembeckjian said in a statement. “It is the very antithesis of law and justice. For a judge to use the image of the noose in making a political point undermines the integrity of the judiciary and public confidence in the courts.”

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In his resignation letter, Canning said the Commission had “presented me with several different options in resolving what they claim to be a serious offense. I feel as though, due to my current financial situation and obligations to my family, I am being coerced into resigning.”

“I do formally apologize for the inconvenience and hardship that I have imposed on my co-justice and the Town of Altona,” the letter reads.

Under the terms of a July 10 agreement with the commission, Canning — who is not a lawyer — said he would not seek judicial positions ever again.

Canning told The Post he didn’t mean for the photo to be racist but rather to be a comment on the death penalty.

“The post was not a racist post. The whole post was pro death penalty. I am pro death penalty and it is not illegal to be pro death penalty,” Canning said. “None of that was in my mind when I shared my post. The noose was used for death penalty long before racism was ever a thing.”

He said the commission “painted me into a corner” because he couldn’t afford to hire a lawyer to fight the charges on his meager judgeship salary and his wages from his job as a delivery man for a bakery.

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