On Sept. 23, Tracie Gelbstein, counsel to the court's Disciplinary Review Board, asked the court to admonish Passaic County Superior Court Judge Raymond Redden and Paterson Municipal Court Judge Gerald Keegan, who have admitted attending weekly church group dinners with the defendant, Anthony Ardis, a former Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission official.
Reddin and Keegan have both denied acting unethically.
"To be clear, there was no actual impropriety," Gelbstein told the court. "They did not intend to violate the Code of Judicial Conduct. However, they created an appearance of impropriety."
The judges "did not scrutinize their behavior from the viewpoint of the public," Gelbstein said.
Justice Barry Albin asked whether it would be improper for the judges and Ardis to walk into church together, sit in the same pew or speak to each other.
Gelbstein said the ACJC would look at the facts and make a determination.
Appellate Division Judge Mary Catherine Cuff, temporarily assigned, asked whether judges, in regulating their behavior, had to subject themselves to the public's "lowest common denominator."
"Judges have to accept some restraints on their behavior," Gelbstein replied.
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Judges Face Discipline for Dining with Indicted Friend
You want the bench? You gotta be very careful.
ReplyDeleteCan't tell anyone what to do on their own time. But, a judge is always on duty and they know that when they accept the position.
ReplyDeletewell, it is new jersey after all isnt it?
ReplyDelete