Third District Juvenile Court Judge Joseph Anderson's federal lawsuit challenging the process by which state judges are disciplined has been indefinitely put on hold.
U.S. District Judge John E. Conway has ruled Anderson, now a 3rd District judge, must exhaust all of his administrative remedies before going forward with the suit.
Anderson sued Judicial Conduct Commission executive director Stephen Stewart, chairman Dane Nolan and Guardian Ad Litem director Kristin Brewer in December, saying the Judicial Conduct Commission failed to protect his rights by not dismissing a complaint filed by three attorneys who regularly appear before him in court.
In the complaint, the attorneys — one each from the Attorney General's Office, the Guardian Ad Litem's Office and a private law firm under contract to represent indigent parents — accuse Anderson of taking too long to rule in time-sensitive child welfare cases.
A recent order from U.S. District Judge John E. Conway reiterates his position, which was earlier expressed in a Jan. 3 order. However, despite that order, all the parties involved had continued to file documents in the case.