A Massachusetts judge who came under fire for her lenient sentencing of a sex offender defended her record and said her critics were motivated by politics. Watch NewsCenter 5's David Muir
Should Judge Maria Lopez Be Removed From The Bench? Tell Us. In her first public comments since September's ruling, broadcast Tuesday night in a Spanish-language television interview, Superior Court Judge Maria Lopez refused to discuss the case directly, but said she knows her rulings have been "just." "I always tried to be just in all my rulings," Lopez told Miami-based Univision. "That is my responsibility." Lopez came under fire after sentencing Charles "Ebony" Horton, a 22-year-old transsexual, to a year of home detention instead of the eight- to 10-year prison sentence requested by prosecutors. Horton admitted luring a 12-year-old boy into a car while dressed as a woman, holding a screwdriver to the boy's neck and forcing him to simulate sex acts. Court proceedings, and her public chastisement of a prosecutor, were caught on tape. Lopez did not explain herself except to call Horton's crime "low level" and say there were unspecified mitigating circumstances. A top Republican lawmaker tried to remove her from the bench. "There needs to be some process by which they are held accountable," said state Rep. Francis Marini, R-Hanson, who was interviewed for the same program. "There are other judges who may be white men who have done the same thing, but I didn't hear about those. It wasn't on TV. She did this on television in front of me and in front of all the people of Massachusetts, " Marini told NewsCenter 5. He described his use of a little-known legislative tool, known as a "bill of address," as not ideal, but the only avenue open to him "to express my outrage at the sentence in which a convicted kidnapper, child molester, was not given one day in jail." Lopez, a Cuban emigre who became the first Hispanic woman on the state Superior Court in 1993, described the attempt to oust her as "all politics," and said she is held to higher standards. "As a woman and as a Latin person you are always followed very closely, and I know they have used different standards to check me up," Lopez said. "I know that the same ruling I made has been made by male white judges and for some reason they do not attract the same grade of attention that I did," she said. Lopez said it is important for the judiciary to remain independent. "We are not politicians and that is why we are designated for life, to make the correct decision, unpopular as that may be with the public," Lopez said. Before the ruling, Lopez had received positive media coverage fueled in part by a flashy image. Asked if she would change her image, Lopez said she would not. "I don't have to be popular with anybody." Previous Stories:

• April 13, 2001: Committee Considers Removing Judge Lopez
• September 15, 2000: Judge Removal Bill Won't Be Heard Soon
• September 11, 2000: Cellucci Asks Court To Cut Lopez's Duties
• September 7, 2000: Cross-Dresser's Sentence Sparks Concern