Bexar County Criminal District Judge Stephanie Boyd has been publicly warned for using her court YouTube channel to host a book club and conversing with viewers about ongoing cases, suggesting her probable decisions.
The State Commission on Judicial Conduct (SCJC), responsible for investigating allegations of this kind, issued the public warning earlier this month.
Boyd continues to serve as judge of the 187th Criminal District Court in San Antonio. Her term will expire December 31, and she already lost her re-election bid in the Democrat primary on March 3.
Background
Judge Boyd was provided a court Youtube channel by the Office of Court Administration, where she livestreams her court proceedings. She has amassed over 57,000 subscribers on the account.
However, it was discovered that Boyd had been using the channel to engage in extrajudicial activities with viewers. This included hosting a book club that allowed viewers to leave comments and messages in real time about proceedings and participants.
The SCJC found that Boyd was “making public comments through the Court’s YouTube Channel about pending or impending proceedings in a manner which suggests to a reasonable person her probable decision in any particular case.”
Such behavior is in direct violation of Canon 3B(10) of the Texas Code of Judicial Conduct.
The commission investigated additional instances, separate from the book club, in which Judge Boyd signalled her probable decisions while livestreaming the proceedings to her court YouTube channel.
During a July 2023 plea hearing, Boyd “improperly injected herself” into the plea bargaining process by asking if the defendant “was willing to accept the 20 years in prison offered by the court.” During this discussion, Judge Boyd remarked that the case against the defendant was a “life-sentence worthy case.”
During an October 2024 probation revocation hearing, Judge Boyd explained to the defendant that he was facing 20 years in prison. Afterwards, she directed the court reporter to go “off the record” while continuing to live stream on her YouTube Channel.
Boyd then told the defendant, “So it appears that you want to go to prison to be passed around for cigarettes or dessert. Because that’s what’s going to happen to you. Because you’re young. And they will think you are attractive at the prison.”
“And I can tell you right now that your grandparents, your mother, probably doesn’t have enough money to put on your books so you won’t be passed around for ramen noodles, cigarettes, oranges, or whatever at the jail,” she continued.
In her sworn responses to the SCJC about this matter, Judge Boyd noted the seriousness of the charge that defendant was facing and believed he “was not taking the charges or the potential probation seriously.”
Boyd stated that she has never reviewed or responded to viewers’ comments or messages during proceedings and that she has never “relied upon or considered” such comments or messages when performing her judicial duties.
She represented to the commission that all her decisions are “based solely on the evidence presented and the law” and that she has “never been influenced by any outside source when ruling on any case.”
Judge Boyd confirmed that she participated in a book club through the court’s YouTube channel but indicated that she no longer does so. She does, however, continue to livestream her proceedings.
The Public Warning
On June 3, the SCJC issued its public warning against Judge Boyd.
“Judge Boyd’s failures in the foregoing respects constituted willful and persistent conduct that is clearly inconsistent with the proper performance of her judicial duties and cast public discredit on the judiciary or on the administration of justice,” wrote the commission.
Boyd lost her re-election bid to Stephanie Franco in the March 3 Democrat primary. Franco focused her campaign on Judge Boyd’s social media antics.
“As a felony prosecutor, I’ve spent my career protecting victims, not exploiting their trauma. Courtrooms should be places of justice, not entertainment,” reads Franco’s campaign website.
“The current judge livestreams and records everything in that courtroom because she cares more about YouTube clicks than the dignity of victims,” said Franco in a separate campaign advertisement. “I know how hard it is for survivors to have to testify and I don’t think we should make that any harder by using their trauma as entertainment.”
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