Embattled ex-judge beats lawsuit by woman jailed over ‘daddy issues’

This week, U.S. District Judge Thomas Thrash Jr. said Williams can’t be sued by Dennis, irrespective of whether the decision to lock her in a courthouse cell was proper, because the decision was a judicial act within Williams’ power as a judge. Thrash said he must follow legal precedent from the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in a separate case called McCullough v. Finley that established judges are immune from liability for their judicial acts, regardless of what motivated them.

“Although Defendant Judge Williams has likely engaged in conduct that is unbecoming of her duty to uphold the laws of Georgia and the Constitution, the Court is bound by the Eleventh Circuit’s decision in McCullough,” Thrash wrote in an order Monday. “Because the Court is limited in its inquiry into whether the wrongdoing alleged against Judge Williams is a judicial act, the Court has no choice but to determine that she is entitled to judicial immunity.”

Williams is represented in the case by the state because she was insured as a judge by the Georgia Department of Administrative Services. A spokesperson for the office of Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr declined to comment on the case.

Dennis’ lawyer did not comment Wednesday.

Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez

Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez

Williams previously acknowledged in the JQC’s misconduct case against her that she was wrong to jail Dennis, saying she did it for “shock value” because Dennis was being “flippant” about damaging items in her father’s apartment.

Williams had lectured Dennis in court about her “daddy issues” after letting Dennis out of the courthouse cell, where she had been locked for between 15 and 45 minutes, case records show.

“Hindsight being 20/20 I would not have handled it like that,” Williams testified in a May 2025 hearing in the JQC case.

In her lawsuit, filed in October, Dennis said Williams had unfairly targeted and humiliated her. Dennis said she was afraid at the time that she would be arrested and taken to jail because Williams had accused her of committing felony crimes in her father’s apartment.

The Georgia Supreme Court is considering whether to punish Williams for violating the Georgia Code of Judicial Conduct. The JQC asked the state Supreme Court to do so, despite Williams’ resignation. Williams argued her resignation ends the JQC’s misconduct case.

In his ruling this week, Thrash also dismissed Dennis’ associated claims against Fulton County, Sheriff Patrick Labat and unnamed sheriff’s deputies who handcuffed and jailed Dennis under Williams’ orders.

Dennis alleged the county, sheriff and deputies are liable alongside Williams for unlawful seizure and false imprisonment as well as deprivation of liberty without due process. Dennis further claimed the county and sheriff are liable for failing to properly train and supervise courthouse-assigned deputies regarding “the constitutional limits of courtroom detentions and unlawful judicial orders.”

Thrash ruled that Labat and his deputies have immunity from liability as the sheriff is an arm of the state and that Dennis’ claims against the county don’t stack up. He said it’s “unfair to punish law enforcement officers for a judge’s potential unlawful actions.”

“A law enforcement officer is not expected to run to his own counsel before complying with a judicial officer’s order,” he wrote. “Indeed, Defendant Judge Williams went so far as to accuse the Plaintiff of felony offenses which likely made the law enforcement officers more comfortable in their decisions to comply.”

Thrash gave Dennis 14 days to amend her claims against the county to sufficiently allege its custom or policy caused her constitutional rights to be violated. He said any attempt to amend the rest of the case would be futile as Williams, Labat and the deputies have immunity.

Representatives for the county and Labat did not comment on the ruling.