Judge says depression, accident led to cocaine, stripper troubles

By Bill Rankin

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A decades-long battle with depression and brain damage from a bicycling accident led ex-judge Jack Camp to make the self-destructive choices of using drugs and striking up an affair with a stripper, court filings say.

Camp, 67, of Newnan resigned in disgrace from the U.S. District Court bench in November when he pleaded guilty to federal charges. This included one felony -- giving the stripper, who he knew was a convicted felon, money to buy drugs. He is to be sentenced March 11.

In court filings Friday, Camp's lawyers asked Senior U.S. District Judge Thomas Hogan of Washington, who was assigned to the case because all Atlanta judges recused themselves, to impose a sentence of probation, a fine and community service. If Hogan thinks more severe punishment is necessary, the lawyers asked him to consider a period of home confinement.

"He knows what he did and he understands that he cannot ever fully repair the damage he caused or regain the trust of the people he harmed, especially his wife," the filing said of Camp, a former chief judge on the federal bench in Atlanta. "There is no punishment he will endure more painful than the guilt and shame he faces every day of the rest of his life."

Camp and the exotic dancer from the Goldrush Showbar in Atlanta began seeing each other early last year. He began paying her for sex and using drugs with her. By early October, however, she had turned government informant and Camp, who was armed, was arrested in a parking lot by federal agents after helping her consummate a drug deal. He also later pleaded guilty to possessing illegal drugs and giving his $825 government-issued laptop computer to the stripper.

The filing noted that Camp began seeking treatment for depression in November 1999, and his condition involved "a mood cycling or bipolar disorder." Features of these afflictions are impaired judgment and excessive involvement in pleasurable activities, the filing said.

Camp's conduct "is certainly consistent with that characterization," the sentencing memorandum said. The filing included dozens of letters from friends and colleagues who wrote in support of the ex-judge.

In 2000, Camp also suffered a serious head injury when he had an accident while bicycling without a helmet in rural Coweta County, the filing said, noting that to this day he has no memory of what happened.

Camp suffered damage to the impulse control part of his temporal lobe, "which would ordinarily inhibit impulsiveness or extremely reckless behavior," the filing said.

At the time of his arrest, Camp, who had become a senior judge, was feeling isolated and was dealing with a severely ill mother and sister, the lawyers said.

His mental health issues and the stresses he was coping with do not excuse his conduct, the filing said. "They do help explain, however, how in May of 2010 a lonely man in the twilight of his life became entangled with a seductive prostitute more than willing to take advantage of his needs and of his misguided impulse to be her friend and protector."

Camp's arrest and conviction shocked his family and friends, many of whom found it impossible to believe, the filing said. They found it particularly stunning "because it was so reckless and dangerous."

Camp, who is married with two adult children, broke the laws he had sworn to uphold, the filing said. "He also of course embarrassed his family, especially his wife and children, who have to live with their public identification with him, and he humiliated himself."