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| Farley Toothman |
Former Greene County president judge Farley Toothman will be barred from ever serving on the bench again and be required to write letters of apology to those he “victimized,” but he will not face any additional sanctions for his judicial misconduct.
The state Court of Judicial Discipline announced its sanctions Thursday against Toothman for “bullying others” inside and outside of his courtroom in two cases in which he was found to have committed misconduct as judge.
“Judge Toothman’s misconduct is motivated by personal anger at two people who offended him,” the eight-judge panel wrote. “His dictatorial actions are reprehensible. Misuse of the powers of the judiciary to satisfy one’s personal animosities is among the worst offenses a judge can commit.”
The court ruled in July that Toothman “engaged in misconduct so extreme that brought the judicial office into disrepute” when he retaliated against a courthouse employee and a person on probation. The panel found that Toothman abused his time on the bench and “committed serious misconduct” in two cases that violated judicial conduct rules in 10 of the 21 counts brought against him in 2020.
“Judge Toothman’s clearly improper conduct was blatant and inexcusable,” the panel wrote in its sanctions opinion. “No jurist should ever behave in such a manner.”
Judge Thomas Flaherty wrote a concurring opinion disagreeing with the decision to remove Toothman from the bench since he resigned as judge in January 2021. Flaherty also took exception with Toothman being required to write letters of apology to the people he wronged.
Toothman could have faced more severe punishment, such as fines and even revocation of his state pension and benefits.
Nevertheless, the state Judicial Conduct Board that filed the charges will now contact the victims in the case to see if they would like a letter of apology from Toothman.
Toothman wielded his power as judge to interfere with a retail theft investigation into his law clerk at a Waynesburg convenience store in September 2017, the panel concluded. While the clerk was never charged with a crime, Toothman was later accused of intervening in a county probation staff meeting about the woman who made the accusation of shoplifting at the convenience store.
He later learned the woman had not paid a $10 monthly fine, which prompted him to order her to appear in his courtroom rather than report to her community service location. Toothman held the woman in civil contempt and ordered her to spend 25 days in the Greene County jail.
In the other case, Toothman retaliated against a courthouse custodian by posting her union grievance on a public bulletin board outside the two courtrooms in January 2018. The judicial panel said his actions were “very serious” and violated judicial canons and the state Constitution.
In three other cases, the Court of Judicial Discipline found Toothman may have violated procedures, but there was not clear and convincing evidence of ethical violations.
“The conduct at issue here involves two incidents of bullying another as part of a personal grudge or fit of pique,” the panel wrote in its sanctions order. “The misconduct by Judge Toothman is serious and had a detrimental effect on those he targeted.”
The panel said Toothman “brought considerable disrepute” to the judiciary; however, it acknowledged that he admitted wrongdoing and has “voiced contrition” over his behavior. The four-page order effectively closes Toothman’s judicial misconduct case and he will face no further punishment.
Bethann Lloyd, who is representing Toothman in the case, could not be reached for comment Friday.
The Judicial Conduct Board filed the complaint against Toothman in May 2020, and he announced that October that he was taking a temporary leave from the bench. He later relinquished his duties as president judge and resigned from the bench in January 2021. Toothman had served as a judge in Greene County for 11 years.
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