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John M. Lewis (New Hampshire)
This page is about the New Hampshire Superior Court judge. For other judges with a similar name, please see John Lewis.
John M. Lewis was a justice on the New Hampshire Superior Court.[1] He retired from the bench on September 6, 2013, close to three years before he would have been required to retire pursuant to New Hampshire's mandatory retirement requirements for judges. On April 1, 2014 it was revealed Lewis retired after being placed on administrative leave due to accusations of judicial misconduct. (See below.) Lewis was appointed to his position in 2001 by former Governor Jeanne Shaheen.[2]
Education
Lewis earned his undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College in 1967 and studied at the Institut D’Etude Politique of the University of Grenoble, France on a Fulbright Scholarship. He later earned his J.D., in 1973, from Columbia Law School.[3]
Career
Prior to being appointed to the superior court, Lewis was an attorney in private practice. Before that time he was an associate with the firm of Proskauer, Rose, Goetz & Mendelsohn. He also worked as an assistant regional attorney with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. After passing the bar, Lewis was a law clerk for the chief judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio.[3]
Noteworthy events
Retired judge receives reprimand for misconduct
The New Hampshire Judicial Conduct Committee issued a reprimand of retired judge John M. Lewis on April 1, 2014. The reprimand addressed comments allegedly made by Lewis during meetings which took place in July 2013. The committee voted to reprimand Lewis because he acted in a way that may have given the appearance he was prejudiced or biased.[4][5]
Based on complaints made to New Hampshire Superior Court Chief Justice Tina L. Nadeau regarding comments he allegedly made at a meeting on July 10, 2013, Lewis was placed on paid administrative leave on July 22, 2013, while a decision was made on further action to be taken. Lewis' attorney notified Nadeau that Lewis intended to retire from the bench on July 26, 2013. His retirement became effective on September 6, 2013.[4]
Nadeau informed the committee that the court and parties involved would not take any further action regarding the situation. However, on September 16, the judicial conduct committee notified Lewis a misconduct investigation had been initiated. Interviews were conducted with the attorneys present at the meeting on July 10, as well as with Judge Nadeau and Lewis.
According to the interviews, Lewis made a number of disparaging comments regarding women during the July 10 meeting. Among other remarks, the reprimand notes Lewis said "the legal profession risks losing the respect of our society because so many more women are becoming lawyers." Attorneys interviewed claimed Lewis made a number of derogatory remarks regarding women lawyers and negative comments regarding victims.[4]
Lewis claimed during the meeting he was attempting to engage in a collegial discussion about sexism and discrimination. He indicated he was tired and some of the remarks which witnesses attributed to him were actually made by others. He also claimed his statements regarding victims were only regarding one specific case and were not a "blanket statement" regarding his views of victims in general.[4]
The committee determined it had the authority to pursue misconduct charges against Lewis, despite the fact that he retired from the bench before formal charges were filed. Lewis agreed he failed to avoid the appearance of impropriety but denied violating any other rules of judicial misconduct. He agreed he will not serve as a judge in the future.[4]
See also
External links
- Nashua Telegraph, "Judge rules portion of ed tax credit program unconstitutional," June 18, 2013 (dead link)
- Concord Monitor, "Judge in voter law case reverses order," October 6, 2012
Footnotes
- ↑ New Hampshire Judicial Branch, Superior Court Justices
- ↑ Nashua Telegraph, "Superior Court judge who ruled unconstitutional tax credits for business that support scholarships to religious schools set to retire," August 13, 2013 (dead link)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 John M. Lewis biography by the Russian American Rule of Law Consortium
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 New Hampshire Judicial Branch Judicial Conduct Committee, "In the matter of Retired Associate Superior Court Justice John M. Lewis, JC-13-042-C," April 1, 2014
- ↑ ABA Journal, "Judge reprimanded for comment about proliferation of women lawyers; was he misunderstood?" accessed November 9, 2015
Federal courts:
First Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: District of New Hampshire • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: District of New Hampshire
State courts:
New Hampshire Supreme Court • New Hampshire Superior Courts • New Hampshire Circuit Courts • New Hampshire Probate Courts • New Hampshire District Court • New Hampshire Family Division
State resources:
Courts in New Hampshire • New Hampshire judicial elections • Judicial selection in New Hampshire
