The state's top court ruled Tuesday that backlogged court calendars can be treated as judicial misconduct, ordering a hearing for a former Kingston City Court judge who was publicly reprimanded by the state Commission on Judicial Conduct this year.
The decision by the Court of Appeals said a judge's failure to move cases in a timely way is primarily something for administrators to correct. But the decision also said, “it is not workable to exclude completely the possibility of more formal discipline for such behavior, in cases where the delays are lengthy and without valid excuse.”
Kingston City Court Judge James Gilpatric's lawyer, James E. Long, said he welcomes the hearing before the state commission, adding that “we're confident that we will show that he didn't commit misconduct.” But he predicted the decision will have serious consequences in other cases, because delays that were once resolved by an administrator could lead to allegations of misconduct.
“It basically opens the floodgates for the commission to investigate judges,” he said. “Each case is going to require a hearing.”
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Appeals Court Orders Hearing for Kingston Judge Who Was Reprimanded for Court Backlogs
4 comments:
Who's watching the judges?
They only nail the little ones!
The biggies get away with murder!
This is the way it should be, especially in cases involving the elderly who don't have time for the slow "wheels of justice".
Judges play a pivotal part in "delay, delay - let the estate pay".
The judge in my case took over 9 months to make a ruling.
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