“That’s The Culture:” Ticket Fixing In New Jersey

A judge who fixed tickets for a fellow judge and his family was suspended for a year (retroactive) by the New Jersey Supreme Court.

Respondent was a municipal court judge in Jersey City until 2007. Sison was also a municipal court judge at the time.

On October 24, 2007, the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General (AG) notified the OAE of charges filed against respondent for “ticket-fixing” and later provided the OAE with a copy of the complaint, charging her with the second-degree crime of Official Misconduct, N.J.S.A. 2C:30-2(a).

On August 28, 2009, respondent was admitted into the PreTrial Intervention (PTI) program, which she successfully completed.

Count one of the complaint alleged that Sison presented respondent with three motor vehicle tickets “for adjudication.” The tickets had been issued to him and to members of his family. Respondent did not adjudicate the Instead, she imposed judgment tickets on the record. without the defendants’ appearances or pleas and without considering their guilt or innocence. She either found the defendants guilty or dismissed their matters.

For Sison’s ticket for parking during street cleaning, respondent assessed $20 in court costs and waived the $42 fine.She conceded, during the AG’s investigation, that “there probably was no legitimate reason to waive the fine; that’s the culture.”

A second ticket charged Sison or his wife with the same offense, for which respondent assessed $I0 in court costs and waived the $42 fine.

A third ticket, issued to Karl Sison, charged him with a moving violation for failure to observe a traffic control device, a two-point violation. Respondent amended the ticket to delaying traffic, a no-point violation, and imposed a $25 fine and $25 court costs. She advised Sison of the amended charge and fines.

Although Karl Sison had been standing in the hallway, while respondent adjudicated his ticket, she did not elicit a factual basis for the amended charge and did not give the municipal prosecutor or charging officer an opportunity to be heard about the charges. Respondent knew that her actions were not authorize.

The judge questioned the proceedings

By letter to Sweeney, dated October i, 2014, respondent, among other things, accused Disciplinary Review Board Member Gallipoli of “Javert-like madness,” in ensuring her prosecution, and questioned why charges against Sison had not been pursued.

The report of the Disciplinary Review Board and the court order may be found here. (Mike Frisch)