A federal district judge in Georgia was privately reprimanded by the Judicial Council of the 11th U.S. Circuit after an internal investigation found she had an extramarital relationship with a high-ranking law enforcement officer that included sexual intercourse in her chambers during work hours, and that she made false statements during the inquiry.
The Judicial Council of the 11th U.S. Circuit issued a private reprimand in a case involving an unnamed federal district judge, after a special committee investigated allegations raised by one of the judge’s law clerks. In its February 11, 2026 order, the council said the judge engaged in an extramarital relationship with a high-ranking law enforcement officer and had sexual intercourse in the judge’s chambers during business hours, within hearing distance of staff. The order also said the judge made false statements to the chief circuit judge and chief district judge that were material to the investigation. The council’s order described the discipline as a private reprimand and cited factors it said weighed against harsher sanctions, including the judge’s record of public service and the committee’s assessment that the risk of repeated misconduct was low. As part of the resolution, the judge agreed to send apology letters to six former law clerks and to forgo future service as a chief judge when eligible, as well as to refrain from serving on Judicial Conference committees. The judge was not identified in the publicly released disciplinary materials. However, Bloomberg Law has reported—citing a person familiar with the matter—that the judge is U.S. District Judge Eleanor Ross of the Northern District of Georgia. Separately, the U.S. Department of Justice has asked Ross to step aside from a federal case involving access to Georgia election-related records, arguing that her reported identification as the “subject judge” in the disciplinary matter creates an appearance of partiality. Atlanta police have also said they opened an internal investigation to determine whether the high-ranking law enforcement officer described in the judiciary’s findings is a member of the Atlanta Police Department, which regularly appears in federal court in the Atlanta area.