Complaints Against New York Judges Reach a High

Complaints Against New York Judges Reach a High, but Fewer Merit Investigations
The New York Times by JOHN ELIGON - June 26, 2008

A record number of complaints were filed against New York State judges in 2007, according to a report by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct. But the number of complaints that warranted a full investigation during that time was lower than it had been in a decade, the report said.

The commission, which has been collecting grievances since 1975, submitted the report to the State Legislature last month. It encompasses all of the state’s roughly 3,500 judges, including Supreme Court justices, city and county court judges, and justices in villages and towns. There were 1,711 complaints filed against judges last year, the report said. That number is up from the previous high over the past decade: 1,565 complaints in 2005. Nearly 1,300 of the 2007 complaints were found to have no basis and were dismissed almost immediately, while more than 400 others were sent on for preliminary inquiries. The commission found 192 of the complaints to be potentially valid and sent them on for full-fledged inquiries. The last time that fewer than 200 complaints were sent on for full investigation was in 1997, when there were 172.

“I think that the fact that there is less substantiated wrongdoing shows that the judges are doing an outstanding job,” said David Bookstaver, a spokesman for the Office of the Court Administration. Five judges were removed last year, 10 were censured and 9 admonished. But some of those punishments were the result of complaints pending prior to 2007. The record number of complaints was more indicative of the public’s increased awareness of the commission’s duties, not the performance of judges, said Robert H. Tembeckjian, the administrator of the agency. Mr. Tembeckjian cited several reasons for the commission’s increased exposure, including wider use of the Internet and reports in the news media.

He cited a series in The New York Times in 2006 that found a long history of judicial misconduct and poor training in small-town courts in New York. Mr. Tembeckjian also mentioned several instances of judicial misconduct that were widely publicized. Last November, Robert M. Restaino, a judge on the Niagara Falls City Court, was removed for sending 46 defendants who sat in his courtroom into police custody after no one took responsibility for a cellphone that rang in the courtroom. Mr. Tembeckjian said he received media inquiries in that case from around the globe. As people see the commission acting on judicial misconduct, Mr. Tembeckjian said, they become more inclined to file complaints.

“As the public and civic organizations and lawyers become more confident and satisfied that the commission will seriously treat their complaints,” Mr. Tembeckjian said, “there tends to be more public confidence in the commission’s discharge of its responsibilities.” In more than half the cases last year — 941 — the complaints were about a judge’s decision. Those complaints were immediately dismissed because that is an issue for an appellate court, Mr. Tembeckjian said. A judge’s demeanor drew the second most number of complaints last year with 235, the report said. The subject of other complaints include claims of delays, conflicts of interest, bias, corruption and intoxication.