Content note: This article contains a graphic description of intimate partner violence.

After a federal judge in Alabama accepted a plea deal on charges of intimate partner violence, a growing chorus of people are calling for his resignation. This comes as the problem of domestic abuse weighs heavily on the public conscience following high-profile incidents with NFL players.

An appellate court on Tuesday created a committee to investigate the domestic violence charges against Fuller, according to a report from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Judge Mark Fuller was appointed in 2002 by President George W. Bush as U.S. district judge for the Middle District of Alabama. He has had a controversial term as a federal judge, both for his role presiding over trial of former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman, as well as previous allegations of drug abuse and domestic abuse.

Fuller has repeatedly disputed the domestic violence charges. He claims he threw his wife to the ground in self-defense. Fuller entered a counseling program in September so the misdemeanor charge would be dropped, saying in a statement that he wanted to “put this incident behind us.”

Fuller in August was arrested for domestic abuse after beating his wife during an argument. An audio recording obtained by the Associated Press documented that Kelli Fuller called 9-1-1 and reported that her husband had struck her at the Ritz Carlton in downtown Atlanta.

“Help me, please. Please help me. He’s beating on me,” Kelli Fuller told a dispatcher.

Records from the Fuller’s divorce proceedings that included allegations of domestic abuse were sealed by a circuit court. Fuller’s wife, Kelli Fuller, had lacerations on her forehead and mouth after the incident, according to police reports. Fuller, according to police, dragged his wife around a hotel room and hit her repeatedly in the mouth after she accused him of having an affair with a law clerk.

The Associated Press reported that police said the Fullers’ hotel room smelled of alcohol and the floor was covered in broken glass and hair.

Both of Alabama’s U.S. senators, fellow Republicans Richard Shelby and Jeff Sessions, have called on Fuller to resign.

“The American people’s trust in our judicial system depends on the character and integrity of those who have the distinction and honor of sitting on the bench and I believe Judge Mark Fuller has lost the confidence of his colleagues and the people of the state of Alabama, and I urge him to resign immediately,” Shelby told the Montgomery Advertiser.

Both candidates campaigning to replace Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-Vestavia Hills) in Alabama’s Sixth District have called on Fuller to resign. Democrat Mark Lester and Republican Gary Palmer both issued statements calling for the judge’s resignation, and Palmer said that if he does not resign he should be “impeached immediately.”

Six of the state’s seven house members have called on Fuller to resign, as well as a handful of editorial boards at state newspapers.