After listening to Cynthia Gray talk, the average Utahn probably would be moved to say, "Whew!"
Gray is director of the American Judicature Society (AJS) Center for Judicial Ethics — and does she have some stories to tell. Real life stories, as it turns out, of misbehavior by a handful of judges across the nation.
Gray's organization serves as a national clearinghouse for judicial ethics and disciplinary actions taken by the judicial oversight commissions that exist in every state. She also conducts research and responds to information requests from commissions, attorneys, judges, reporters and others.
Given the numbers of judges in the United States, the ones who commit crimes or misbehave in office are relatively few.
"Across the nation, about 12 a year are removed from office due to judicial conduct commission proceedings," Gray said, adding that some states permit a judge to quietly resign and the case does not become public.
Nationwide, between 100 to 110 judges on average are publicly sanctioned and Gray estimates three or four times that number receive private or informal disciplinary action.
Gray recently addressed the JCC and and several other prominent members of the legal community during its fall symposium and presented a list of some of the most dramatic cases of judicial misconduct Gray has come across in the past year.
They included:
A New York judge who tried to intercede with other judges to help her friends in two child custody cases. Her defense? "Everybody does it." She was censured for her conduct.
A California judge who was criminally convicted of fixing traffic tickets for his friends and also gave lenient DUI sentences to cronies. The conduct commission negotiated an agreement resulting in his resignation.
A Texas judge who celebrated the apprehension of a convicted domestic violence fugitive by throwing a party in her courtroom when he was brought in — complete with a cake, decorations and invitations to the media. The commission in Texas admonished the judge.
A Washington state judge who was extraordinarily rude and sarcastic with people who represented themselves before her, stating at one point, "If you want to lose, annoy me." She was reprimanded, ordered to take a judicial ethics class and get anger management treatment.
A Kansas judge who was checking porn Web sites on an office computer in the courthouse.
The conduct commission recommended booting him from office despite the fact that he got various forms of therapy.
Gray said the majority of complaints against judges stem from family or criminal court cases, which can become quite emotionally charged.
Utah is not immune to judicial misconduct, but again, considering the number of judges in the state, serious misconduct appears to be rare.
In recent years, the Utah Judicial Conduct Commission has recommended removing a juvenile judge from office, Joseph Anderson, for failing to handle legal matters in a timely way. Another district court judge, Ray Harding Jr., resigned from office prior to being sentenced on drug charges.
Recently, the JCC has recommended to the Utah Supreme Court that polygamist Walter Steed, a municipal court justice, be removed from the bench because bigamy is against the law and the JCC contends Steed's conduct is bringing his office into disrepute. That case is still pending.
Colin Winchester, JCC executive director, said the organization gets approximately 100 complaints about Utah judges per year and about 90 percent are dismissed, but each case is investigated and taken to the commission.
E-mail: lindat@desnews.com