A nonattorney New York jurist is resigning from the bench amid a probe that he made inappropriate remarks while presiding over several criminal cases, had told local officials that litigants in his court were "animals," and sarcastically stated he found it "debatable" that a certain assistant public defender was an actual lawyer.

Rotterdam Town Court Justice James A. Bradshaw Jr. also stood accused of setting excessive bail while not considering the factors in a matter involving a pregnant woman charged with petty larceny for allegedly stealing $73 worth of clothes from a Walmart and her failure to show up for subsequent court dates, according to the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct.