Hold The Phone

The New York Court of Appeals removed a Niagara Falls city court judge from office for misconduct in presiding over domestic violence court cases. On the day in question, he had a docket of 70 scheduled hearings. He handled the first 30 in routine fashion. Then, at 10am, “a cellphone or other similar device rang in the back of the courtroom.” When no one fessed up, he directed court officers to locate the device and ordered that no one leave the courtroom. The device was never located.

The judge then summoned each subsequent defendant–“34 in all”– questioned each about the cell phone issue, and revoked their bonds. He then questioned 11 defendants who he had already released,  revoked their releases on recognizence and ordered bail. Only one had an attorney present. The court here upheld the recommendation for removal from the bench:

By indiscriminately committing into custody 46 defendants, petitioner deprived them of their liberty without due process, exhibited insenstivity, indifference and a callousness so reproachable that his continued presence on the bench cannot be tolerated…it is ironic that petitioner displayed the very attributes by which he accused and summarily punished each defendant. Significantly, petitioner had more than 46 chances to correct himself and failed to do so.

When a defendant so treated protested, the judge acknowledged “You’re right, it ain’t right. Ain’t right at all.” (Mike Frisch)