Nakita Blocton

Nakita Perryman Blocton (born November 7, 1977) is a former domestic relations judge for the 10th Judicial Circuit of Alabama.

Blocton is one of seven daughters born to Albert "Sonie" Dargan, a former U.S. Marine and New York City Transit Authority worker. She was raised by her mother in Birmingham and attended Phillips High School. She earned a bachelor of arts in political science and government at Miles College in 1998 and her doctor of jurisprudence at the Birmingham School of Law in 2002.

While in law school, Blocton worked as a foster care recruiter for Children's Aid Society. After obtaining her degree she worked as an investigator for the Legal Aid Society of Birmingham and opened her own family law office in in April 2003. In November 2006 she partnered with Glennon Threatt in the firm of Threatt & Blocton. While in private practice she served as a daily master and special sitting judge in the domestic relations court. She has also served on the boards of the Rickey Smiley Foundation, Impact Family Counseling, and SafeHouse.

Blocton ran unopposed for Place 20 on the circuit court in the 2016 Democratic Primary and edged out Republican Julie Palmer in the general election. She assumed her seat on the bench in January 2017. She swore Mayor Randall Woodfin into office on November 28 of that year.

In May 2021 Blocton was accused of several kinds of misconduct and incompetence in a complaint prepared by the Judicial Inquiry Commission. The complaint cited growing backlogs in her caseload along with allegations of abuse of prescription diet pills, inappropriate orders given to members of her staff and persons appearing in her court, harassment of parties before her court via social media, and fraud involving a mortgage application for her brother.

Her attorneys, Emory Anthony and Robert MacKenzie, claimed that all of the accusations were false. She was removed from the bench during an investigation by the Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission. On December 7 the Alabama Court of the Judiciary held a public hearing on the commission's report, concluding that she had violated the Alabama Canons of Judicial Ethics with regard to some, but not all of the charges. As a result, she was permanently removed from the bench.

Governor Kay Ivey appointed Alisha Ruffin May, one of three nominees put forth by the Jefferson County Judicial Commission, to fill the vacant seat in October 2022.

References

• "Jefferson County’s historic number of black female judges come highly qualified." (November 17, 2016) The Birmingham Times
• Robinson, Carol (April 6, 2020) "Jefferson County judge shares details of father's COVID-19 death 'to help others live'." The Birmingham News
• Robinson, Carol (May 17, 2021) "Jefferson County judge Nakita Blocton off bench, accused of forcing staff to take diet pills, mental instability." The Birmingham News
• Koplowitz, Howard & Carol Robinson (December 10, 2021) "Nakita Blocton, judge accused of mental instability and forcing staff to take diet pills, removed from bench." The Birmingham News
• Faulk, Kent (October 3, 2022) "Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey to decide among 3 candidates to replace ousted judge who used Facebook aliases." The Birmingham News