Profane Sweaters And Judicial Discipline
In the prior post, I stumbled on the web page of the Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline.
There I found a recent order continuing the investigation of two judges
Pursuant to prior written notice, the above-entitled matter was set for a two-day consolidated public interim suspension hearing before the Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline (“Commission”) commencing on December 16, 2019, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The concerns that led to the hearing
At its meeting on May 31, 2019, the Commission unanimously authorized the Executive Director of the Commission to file complaints against Respondents based on objectively verifiable evidence from which a reasonable inference could be drawn that Respondents were abusing the prestige of their respective offices, interfering in Human Resource matters pertaining to the assignment and discipline of court clerks, creating a hostile work environment for Las Vegas Justice Court Administration and staff, as well as various other allegations of misconduct. The Commission authorized a thorough investigation into these matters.
On October 18, 2019, the Commission unanimously decided to suspend the Respondents with pay pursuant to NRS 1.4675 based on the results of the Commission’s investigation…
Among the allegations
(iv) Justice Court administrators and supervisors being routinely addressed as “Mother Fu**ers” and “Fu**king Bitches” by Respondents during working hours and toward and around employees;
(v) Respondent Tobiasson on more than one occasion wearing a sweater inside and around the Justice Court that reads “Eat Sh*t and Die”
The commission
based on testimony during the hearing by Respondents and certain witnesses, the Commission feels compelled to point out that not one Las Vegas Justice Court judge who testified on behalf of Respondents could bring themselves to admit that routine utterances of sub-judicial standard profanity inside the Las Vegas Justice Center, during working hours and toward and around employees, and the wearing of clothing inside and around the Las Vegas Justice Court containing vulgar statements, were inappropriate or a violation of the Code of Judicial Conduct.
The Las Vegas Review Journal reported
The Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline decided Tuesday that it would not suspend a pair of Las Vegas judges over questions about profanity off the bench and administrative complaints involving court clerks.
But the seven-member panel indicated that its investigation into Justices of the Peace Melanie Andress-Tobiasson and Amy Chelini would not end…
One of the focuses of attention from special prosecutors seeking to suspend Andress-Tobiasson was a sweater she wore while walking back hallways at the Regional Justice Center.
A since-fired court administrator photographed Andress-Tobiasson wearing the turquoise blue top, emblazoned with a pair of cupcakes and the words “eat s—- and die,” at the courthouse in 2017 and later turned the picture over to investigators with the commission. Others accused the judges of using profanity among court staff, though not in their courtrooms.
The commission also could continue to investigate whether Andress-Tobiasson and Chelini interfered with the hiring and firing of court administrators. The judges said they wanted to keep certain court clerks in their courtrooms because they worked well together, while administrators wanted those clerks in separate departments.
In the commission’s more than 40-year history, only two Las Vegas judges have been suspended from the bench while under investigation for misconduct.
In another article, the same source recounted the sweater testimony
“Let’s talk about your sweater,” [prosecutor] Bradley said during the second of a two-day disciplinary hearing at the Thomas & Mack Moot Courtroom at UNLV’s Boyd Law School. “Was it OK to wear it once?”
“Well, I wore it,” Andress-Tobiasson replied.
“Was it beneath the dignity of your office to wear a sweater to the courthouse, to be seen by court staff that says ‘eat s—- and die?’ Was that appropriate?”
“I could see how it would be viewed as inappropriate,” the judge said. “I did not feel it was because of the way it is hidden in the shirt.”
“So the fact that it wasn’t in bold language made it OK, but the fact that it was a little harder to see makes it fine? Is that what you’re saying?”
“I’m saying I did not view it as denigrating the dignity” of the judiciary, Andress-Tobiasson said.
Bradley then tried to ask where the judge purchased the sweater, but commissioners decided she did not have to answer the question.
The other accused judge expressed these views at the hearing
In response to the prosecutor’s questions, Chelini said she thought the hearing and investigation into the conduct of the judges amounted to a “witch hunt.”
“This doesn’t make any sense,” she said. “You’ve literally got two people who have done nothing wrong, that try to run their courts efficiently, and you keep coming.”
She looked toward Bradley.
“You’re smiling because you obviously do agree,” Chelini said.
The prosecutor responded: “I’m smiling because I like your answer.”
“I’m sure you do,” the judge said. “I think it’s a waste of taxpayer dollars. The only danger to the administration of justice is this prosecution.”
Nevada Current had a November story on the commission report. (Mike Frisch)