Judicial Neglect

The Indiana Supreme Court considered judicial misconduct allegations in two consolidated cases involving findings that a judge and a commissioner of the same court had delayed excessively in ruling on post-conviction motions. The judge was suspended for 60 days and the commissioner agreed to a permanent bar to holding judicial office in the future. The court found that the judge had “relied on the Commissioner to his detriment, trusting her to perform duties she failed to perform.”

A dissent would impose a one-year suspension, finding the misconduct was not an isolated instance. The judge’s “disorganization and disinterest caused a man wrongfully to sit in prison for two years.” (Mike Frisch)