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Misconduct Report: October 2014
The Misconduct Report | |
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| A monthly round-up of notable judicial misconduct allegations | |
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December 2, 2014
The Judicial Misconduct Report is a monthly report discussing select state-level judges facing formal misconduct charges. The report discusses notable charges of judicial misconduct from the past month and offers updates on pending and resolved cases. Unless otherwise noted, any misconduct charges should be considered allegations.
News
Justice suspended for sexually-explicit emails
Seamus P. McCaffery: From 2008 to 2009, sexually-explicit emails containing images and videos were allegedly forwarded from Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice McCaffery's personal email account. McCaffery had sent at least eight emails to a staff member in the office, who then forwarded the emails to a dozen more employees.[1]
In his defense, McCaffery argued that the emails came from a personal, and now inactive, Comcast account and not from any state email account. However, the more controversial issue may be the evidence of fraternization between Justice McCaffery and attorneys who could possibly appear before him in court. Chief Justice Ronald Castille added: "The requirement is to be a neutral arbitrator of cases. You cannot be sending pornographic emails to another agency."[2]
On October 20, 2014, four justices of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, (Ronald Castille, Thomas Saylor, Max Baer and Correale Stevens), voted to suspend McCaffrey from the bench. J. Michael Eakin and McCaffrey abstained from voting on the matter. Debra Todd voted against the suspension.[3]
Chief Justice Castille issued a strongly worded statement at the time of the suspension, writing: "In my two decades of experience on this court, no other justice...has done as much to bring the Supreme Court into disrepute. No other justice has failed to live up to the high ethical demands required of a justice of this court or has been the constant focus of ethical lapses to the degree of Justice McCaffery."[3]
Justice Todd, the lone justice to vote against the suspension, stated: "Today, based upon unvetted claims and allegations, a majority of our court, one of whom is deeply involved in this controversy, has suspended a fellow justice. No independent investigative body has made any findings regarding merits or credibility and...no formal criminal proceedings have been instituted. Every day this court is charged with according due process to litigants, and we faithfully carry out that constitutional obligation. Even a justice is entitled to due process."[3]
New York judge resigns amidst investigation into improper campaign communications
Barry Kamins: In September 2014, Judge Kamins of the New York Supreme Court 2nd Judicial District agreed to resign in light of findings by the New York City Department of Investigations that Kamins had improperly given a former Brooklyn district attorney campaign advice. His resignation became effective December 1, 2014.[4][5]
The New York Department of Investigations subpoenaed 6,000 emails from former Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes' email account and found that he had exchanged 300 emails with Judge Kamins, his close friend, during an 18-month period leading up to the 2013 November general election. In these emails, Kamins, via his judicial email account, gave Hynes campaign strategies, which included talking points to cover during debates and information he had on Hynes' opponent. The emails also covered pending cases in the Kings Count District Attorney's Office as well as legal advice.[4]Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; invalid names, e.g. too many
The New York Commission on Judicial Conduct opened up its own inquiry after the Department of Investigation's report and notified Kamins that the commission was planning on starting removal proceedings. Kamins instead chose to resign from the bench, and the commission's investigation is now closed.[5]
Willful misconduct charges filed against judge
James Petrucelli: On October 8, 2014, the California Commission on Judicial Performance filed a notice of formal proceedings against Judge Petrucelli, a judge on the Superior Court of Fresno County, charging him with willful misconduct while in office. The charges stemmed from a domestic violence case allegedly involving Jay Ghazal, manager of Samba's Global Cuisine and an acquaintance of Petrucelli's, who had been arrested on charges of spousal abuse. Jonathan Netzer, Ghazal's attorney and a friend of Petrucelli, reportedly sent a text message to Petrucelli asking for advice on how to get Ghazal out of jail. Petrucelli then allegedly called the jail and had Ghazal released without the statutory bail amount of $65,000.[6][7]
According to the commission's notice, Petrucelli failed to notify the prosecution that Ghazal was to be released on his own recognizance and Ghazal's release was "not in accordance with usual procedures." The commission further found that the "matter of Mr. Ghazal's release was not properly before [Petrucelli], and [he] would have been disqualified had the matter come before [him] in the ordinary course of judicial business because of [his] relationship with both Mr. Ghazal and Mr. Netzer."[6][7][8]
Misconduct complaint against judge may be made public
Jeffrey H. Langton: Dean Cox, a former candidate for the U.S. Senate, filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana arguing that he should be able to make public a misconduct complaint he filed against Judge Langton of the 21st District Court in 2013 without fear of prosecution. A misconduct complaint filed with the Montana Judicial Standards Commission is, as a rule, kept confidential unless it is sent to the Montana Supreme Court for review.[9]
Federal U.S. District Court Judge Dana Christensen, held in favor of Cox, who had argued that the rule restricted his right to free speech under the 1st Amendment. Cox stated in the complaint that Judge Langton had violated the Montana Code of Judicial Conduct when Langton was presiding over a family law dispute between Cox and the mother of his child. Cox said he hoped to use the contents of the complaint to campaign for a recall of Langton or against Langton in his possible 2016 re-election bid. He also said he planned to argue that the Montana Judicial Standards Commission failed to perform a thorough investigation into the claims listed in the complaint. Cox's lawsuit will go forward. In the meantime, Judge Christensen issued an injunction allowing Cox to make his complaint public.[9]
See also
Footnotes
- ↑ The Morning Call, "Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Seamus McCaffery sent explicit emails," October 1, 2014
- ↑ Philly Mag.com, "Report: Justice McCaffery Forwarded Racy Emails," October 2, 2014
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Philadelphia Inquirer, "Supreme Court suspends McCaffery over porn e-mails", October 21, 2014
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 The New York Times, "The New York City Department of Investigation’s Findings on Charles J. Hynes," accessed October 6, 2014
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 The New York Times, "Facing Removal, Judge Who Led New York’s Criminal Courts Will Leave Bench," October 1, 2014
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 The Business Journal.com, "Fresno County judge charged with misconduct," October 14, 2014
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 State of California Commission on Judicial Performance, "Notice of Formal Proceedings: Inquiry Concerning Judge James Petrucelli," October 8, 2014
- ↑ The Fresno Bee, "Fresno Judge Petrucelli faces inquiry into alleged misconduct," October 14, 2014
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 NBC Montana, "Secret judicial misconduct proceedings challenged," October 1, 2014
