Boorish Justice A Justice No Longer

A New York town court justice has resigned from office and agreed to never hold future judicial office for misconduct described in a press release from the Commission on Judicial Conduct

 Judge Poole was apprised by the Commission in January 2017 that it was investigating complaints alleging that he engaged in repeated, undignified and discourteous conduct toward a woman with whom he had been involved romantically. Among other things, the judge was alleged to have yelled demeaning and derogatory things about her and her new boyfriend in public, spuriously threatened her with prosecution, demanded the return of certain personal property and threatened to encourage her ex-husband to commence a custody battle over her children.

Commission Administrator Robert H. Tembeckjian made the following statement:

“The allegations that Judge Poole repeatedly made loud and demeaning public comments about an ex-girlfriend, and baselessly threatened her with prosecution, are serious. On or off the bench, a judge must behave with dignity and integrity, avoiding boorish public behavior that would undermine public confidence in the judiciary. In agreeing to resign, he closes an unfortunate chapter without further detriment to those involved or the court system itself.”

(Mike Frisch)