The progression of a tense divorce has led to the unveiling of a Colorado Federal Judge's unseemly spending habits. Judge Edward Nottingham, the state's chief federal judge, is in the midst of scandal as his ex-wife has made public an occasion where Nottingham managed to spend $3,000 at a strip club and was too drunk to recall how he had spent such a sum.

The spending was revealed during divorce proceedings as Nottingham's former wife, Marcia Jaeger, claimed the discovery of the occasion as reason for requesting a divorce. According to a local Denver TV station, Jaeger discovered the $3,000 charge to Diamond Cabaret as well as charges for the adult website IPayFriendFinder.com.

Judge Nottingham's indiscretions have caused his professional credibility to be called into scrutiny. His actions may be considered in violation of the federal judge's code of conduct which states: “Public confidence in the judiciary is eroded by irresponsible or improper conduct by judges. A judge must avoid all impropriety and appearance of impropriety. A judge must expect to be the subject of constant public scrutiny. A judge must therefore accept restrictions that might be viewed as burdensome by the ordinary citizen and should do so freely and willingly. The prohibition against behaving with impropriety or the appearance of impropriety applies to both the professional and personal conduct of a judge.”

Nottingham feels his actions are pertaining to private matters and should not be included in the code of conduct. His office has released this statement: “Judge Nottingham believes the underlying issues raised by Channel Nine News are private and personal matters involving human frailties and foibles, matters which have now become public as a result of protracted, bitter divorce proceedings. Judge Nottingham has attempted to deal with the issues privately, and he will continue to do so. No purpose would be served by exploring these matters publicly.”

Until now, Judge Nottingham has maintained a reputation of adhering strictly to the rules and has been involved in many high profile cases including one involving Michael Jackson and another addressing the Qwest insider trading scandal. His courtroom activities show no indications of corruption and Notthingham hopes the revelation of his private indiscretion will not reflect upon his career.