Bexar County Court-at-Law No. 13 Judge Rosie Speedlin-Gonzalez, the self-proclaimed “first openly LGBT judge” in the county, has been forced to resign in disgrace and accept a permanent, lifetime disqualification from ever holding judicial office in the State of Texas again.
According to the Texas State Commission on Judicial Conduct, Speedlin-Gonzalez signed off on the deal on April 20, 2026, quietly slinking off the bench effective immediately.
In exchange, prosecutors dropped felony unlawful restraint and misdemeanor official oppression charges against her.
The scandal stems from a December 2024 courtroom meltdown during a domestic violence probation revocation hearing. Defense attorney Elizabeth Russell dared to try changing her client’s plea mid-hearing.
Speedlin-Gonzalez flew into a rage, accused the attorney of “coaching” her client, and ordered bailiffs to slap handcuffs on Russell right there in open court.
The attorney was then marched into the jury box and detained like a common criminal, all because she had the audacity to advocate for her client in front of this power-drunk judge.
The downfall was politically humiliating as well. Speedlin-Gonzalez had already lost her Democrat primary reelection bid earlier this year.
Express News reported:
Speedlin Gonzalez had been indicted on charges of unlawful restraint by a peace officer and official oppression for allegedly having a defense attorney handcuffed after the two argued in court over one of the judge’s rulings. Speedlin Gonzalez also faced possible disciplinary sanctions by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct, which had already suspended her without pay over the incident.
A settlement was reached whereby prosecutors dropped the criminal charges, the commission promised not to pursue sanctions and Speedlin Gonzalez — without admitting “guilt, fault or liability” — agreed to resign and never again seek or hold judicial office. She had been a judge since 2018.
She was not the first Texas jurist to be permanently banished from the bench. Since 2012, three dozen have accepted lifetime bans, according to records of the judicial conduct commission. They had been accused of sexual harassment, duping investors, non-performance of their duties or other misconduct.
Jim Hᴏft is the founder and editor of The Gateway Pundit, one of the top conservative news outlets in America. Jim was awarded the Reed Irvine Accuracy in Media Award in 2013 and is the proud recipient of the Breitbart Award for Excellence in Online Journalism from the Americans for Prosperity Foundation in May 2016.
You can email Jim Hᴏft here, and read more of Jim Hᴏft’s articles here.
Ad block users: Some site features may not work correctly while an ad blocker is enabled, because they break scripts and content this website depends on. If you can’t see comments below, for example, please disable your ad blocker.
