TN: Court of the Judiciary

Judges have a hand in some of the most emotional decisions in Tennesseans' lives, yet many who feel like they were wronged by the legal system say the board created to punish judges is protecting them instead.

The Court of the Judiciary investigates complaints against judges in Tennessee and reviews whether or not there was any misconduct. Much of what they do takes place behind closed doors, and lawmakers say that needs to change.

Channel 4's I-Team investigation was front and center during a legislative hearing Tuesday that could shape the way judges are investigated and punished.

We first introduced you to Danielle Malmquist in July. The judge presiding over her divorce, Jerry Stokes, had her investigated by police believing she wanted to kill him.

Yet during that investigation and even now, he continues to preside over her divorce case.

"During the five-month police investigation, (Judge Stokes) rules against me 64 times," Danielle Malmquist said.

Malmquist believes the judge should have recused himself, so she filed a complaint with the Court of the Judiciary - the board tasked with investigating and punishing judges.

Her complaint was dismissed, and she feels like a system designed to protect her is protecting someone else instead.

"Judges judging judges is not working in our current system of judicial accountability as those judges have a vested interest," Malmquist said.

A majority of complaints are not made public unless they rise to the level of a public reprimand. That bothers many state lawmakers who say it's impossible to know if the judges are really doing their jobs.

"Right now we're in the dark as the public is as to the reprimands that are being issued to judges, private reprimands," Sen. Mae Beavers (R-Mt. Juliet) said.

Those on the Court of the Judiciary say the disciplinary system is working, and that making every complaint public could cause unnecessary harm.

"We don't want to just immediately expose everything everybody accuses something in public," Court of the Judiciary Judge Chris Craft said.

In the past year, there have been 359 complaints against judges. Of those, 314 have been dismissed, nine resulted in public reprimands and six resulted in private reprimands.

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Some Want More Oversight on Investigations Into Judges