This former gang member may be frightened of them:

Just what kind of gang was this, Mr. Nussbaum wanted to know, and should he take precautions to protect his wife, like sending her away to stay with friends?

The questions, alas, did not endear him to Justice Edward J. McLaughlin of State Supreme Court.

“So do you honestly feel you’re in a position to fairly evaluate this case in view of your mindset that your wife might be in danger from an organized group of violent lesbians?” Justice McLaughlin asked.

To which Mr. Nussbaum protested, “That’s not what I’m talking about, Judge.

“When you use, when one uses, the term ‘gay,’ it generates a number of connotations,” Mr. Nussbaum said, according to the official transcript, though yesterday he said he actually used the word “gang,” not gay, and that the transcript was incorrect.

“One of them that crossed my mind was, you know, a nationally organized gang, very powerful, that could reach out and try to influence members of the jury.”

In all honesty, this sounds a bit like a misunderstanding. It’s unclear to me whether Nussbaum knew they were talking about four women. Plus, I know of one woman I’m physically afraid of, much less four.