A longtime federal judge in Atlanta was released on bond yesterday after his arrest on federal charges that he bought cocaine and other illegal drugs while involved in a sexual relationship with an exotic dancer for the past several months, reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Senior U.S. District Judge Jack Camp was arrested last Friday. Camp, 67, is accused of purchasing cocaine and marijuana, along with prescription painkillers, which he shared with an exotic dancer he met last spring at an Alanta bar.
Bill Morrison, an attorney for Camp, portrayed the case as more of a private breach of integrity than a case of public corruption. “This is not a case about judging,” he said. “It is a case about judgment.” Camp, a Vietnam veteran appointed to the bench by President Reagan, presided over cases for more than 20 years and was chief judge before retiring last year and taking senior status. Atlanta defense attorney Jack Martin said Camp was a well-read man who sometimes quoted Shakespeare from the bench. “It's almost like a Shakespearean tragedy,” Martin said.