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Friday, August 20, 2010

Courts - "What's Behind the Flurry of Judicial Resignations in Georgia?"

An interesting story today by R. Robin McDonald of the Fulton County Daily Report that begins:

Since Alapaha Circuit Chief Judge Brooks E. Blitch Sr. resigned his judgeship in April 2008 rather than face an ethics trial in front of the state Judicial Qualifications Commission, at least 21 Georgia judges have been disciplined publicly by the JQC or have stepped down from the bench amid allegations of unethical conduct.

JQC Chairman Benjamin F. Easterlin IV calls the stream of judges who have departed under a cloud since the JQC filed public charges against Blitch -- accusing him of levying unauthorized court fees, improperly ordering the expenditure of county funds, and influence-peddling -- "highly unusual."

Easterlin, a partner at King & Spalding, cautioned, "I would not necessarily reach the conclusion that we have a bunch of bad judges out there based on this recent flurry," and neither is it "a matter of us ratcheting up any investigative efforts."

Easterlin suggested the spate of disciplinary actions and resignations may have been influenced, in part, by publicity highlighting the JQC's involvement in several high-profile judicial resignations. Every time a judge steps down as the result of a JQC action, it seems to embolden attorneys and others to step forward with complaints about other judges, he said.

Indeed, for the fiscal year ending June 30, the JQC received 488 complaints, "the most complaints ever," according to outgoing JQC executive director Cheryl F. Custer, who steps down Sept. 1. The JQC fielded 376 complaints in FY 2009 and 373 complaints in FY 2008.

"I can tell you that persons, lawyers, litigants are feeling a lot more comfortable and a lot less apprehensive about filing complaints now," said Chattahoochee Superior Court Judge John D. Allen, the JQC's vice chairman. "That may be due to the fact we have taken several public actions against judges. It may also be due to the fact the public no longer has the fear of the judiciary they had before about [judges] being untouchable," Allen said.

ILB: A reader sent me the link to this article this morning and asked:
I wonder if complaints like the recent one against Judge Bill Young will embolden lawyers to file more complaints in Indiana?
My thoughts: This, along with the 7th Circuit opinion today, illustrate how important the Indiana Judicial Nominating Commission, which also serves as the Indiana Commission on Judicial Qualifications, is.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on August 20, 2010 02:45 PM
Posted to Courts in general