An experienced upstate New York family court judge has reportedly been reprimanded as a result of an anonymous complaint.
The Commission on Judicial Conduct, a judicial review board, reviewed hundreds of hours of transcripts of the judge’s cases over a fourteen year period and found three cases where the judge’s conduct was deemed objectionable – although not harmful to the parties or their cases. All three of these cases had been in and out of the judge’s courtroom over a long period of time.
In one case, the judge rebuked two parents, both incarcerated, each seeking custody of their children.
In a second case, the incarcerated father sought custody of his children, although the mother was not incarcerated. The judge criticized the incarcerated father.
In a third case, the judge passed disparaging remarks about one of the parents seeking custody of his child, after the hearing was concluded and the parties had left the courtroom. The basis for the disparagement was not specified.
The judge apparently listens to child abandonment, abuse and neglect cases every day, all day long.
The judge was reprimanded for the above few remarks.
Read more in this Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin article: Judge admonished for language in court.