Criminal Court Judge Fred Axley, increasingly the subject of allegations concerning improper private conduct, has resigned under pressure. In a letter dated June 1, Axley informed Governor Bredesen that he would be stepping down at the end of this month from his position as judge of Division 6 of the 30th Judicial District.
Axley was banned from a Florida resort last month, during a vacation with his wife, for soliciting oral sex from a masseuse. Subsequently a former housekeeper for the judge came forth and made charges about having been the subject of sexual advances from Axley, who had often been the subject of similar reports and rumors involving former court employees.
Axley had been reelected to the court only last year in a race against challenger LaTonya Burrow. Even before the recent revelations, he had already become the steady target of a variety of critics, including blogger Thaddeus Matthews, who incessantly called for Axley’s resignation or removal.
