Judges Don’t Have To Snitch On Their Boyfriends To Avoid Official Misconduct Charges

Carlia Brady

Good news for all jurists and prospective jurists out there — you can now date wanted criminals without having to drop a dime on them! Or at the very least, you can avoid official misconduct charges.

Have you heard about the curious case of New Jersey Superior Court Judge Carlia Brady? She was dating Jason Prontnicki, who just so happened to be wanted by authorities for armed robbery. Once Brady was informed the po po were after her BF, he visited her house twice. And Brady, well, she did nothing to inform police.

Judge Brady was indicted on official misconduct and hindering charges, and subsequently suspended from active duty. The trial court tossed the official misconduct charge, and now a New Jersey appellate court has agreed, as reported by Law.com:

The prosecution cited no authority to support “the contention that a judge has a nondiscretionary duty to enforce the order of another court, and it certainly has failed to demonstrate such a duty is ever present, obligating the judge to perform the duty wherever he or she may be, 24 hours a day, 365 days per year,” Judges Carmen Messano, Marianne Espinosa and Karen Suter ruled. Instead, the prosecution invited the grand jury to decide whether a Superior Court judge’s duties include enforcing an arrest warrant, the appeals court said. But the grand jury is “an accusatory and not an adjudicative body,” the panel said, and “the prosecutor must clearly and accurately explain the law to the grand jurors and not leave purely legal issues open to speculation by lay people who are simply performing their civic duty.”

So that’s the difference between Biglaw and being a judge. Biglaw expects you to be on the clock 24/7.

Unfortunately for Brady, she still has to face the hindering charges. The appellate panel believed letting Prontnicki into her home for multiple hours and providing him with a bag of clothes was enough to let those charges stand.

 Maybe this is really good news for the dating lives of judges. I mean, given their profession they pretty much hang around criminals and lawyers all day, and the latter option is too gnarly to contemplate.

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Judges Don’t Have To Snitch On Their Boyfriends To Avoid Official Misconduct Charges