The Arkansas Supreme Court on Thursday suspended an eastern Arkansas judge from the bench until the end of his term in late 2010, ruling that he continued to practice law while serving as a circuit judge.
Justices suspended Phillips County Circuit Judge L.T. Simes without pay until Dec. 31, 2010. The court said Simes could seek office again, rejecting a recommendation from the state panel that disciplines judges.
The discipline panel said Simes continued to make money as a lawyer after his election to the bench in 1997. It had recommended that Simes be permanently barred from serving as a judge again.
Simes said he had been fired from acting as administrator of an estate, but records show he billed for work on the case after he became a judge in 1997.
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Arkansas Supreme Court Suspends Circuit Judge
4 comments:
Suspending this judge was the right thing to do.
He knew better. L.T.Simes should be debenched.
He was fired from acting as an administrator of an estate, but was elected/appointed judge?
He shouldn't have been on the bench in the first place!
I hope his suspension didn't include pay. It probaby did.
When you see big stories about judges getting suspended, usually they're off the bench but with benefits.
And rarely does the discipline committee ever touch their retirement.
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