NCJ Number
177089
Date Published
1998
Length
175 pages
Annotation
This Annual Report of the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct -- the disciplinary agency designated by the State Constitution to review complaints of misconduct against judges of the State Unified Court System -- covers the Commission's activities during calendar year 1997.
Abstract
The Commission's objective is to enforce high standards of conduct for judges. In documenting the Commission's actions in 1997, this report includes accounts of all public determinations; summaries of non-public decisions; and various numerical breakdowns of complaints, investigations, and other dispositions. In 1997, 1,403 new complaints were received, marking the sixth consecutive year in which the number of complaints exceeded 1,300. Of these, 1,231 (88 percent) were dismissed by the Commission upon initial review, and 172 investigations were authorized and commenced. In addition, 142 investigations and 28 proceedings on formal charges were pending from the prior year. In 1997, as in previous years, the majority of complaints were received from civil litigants and defendants in criminal cases. Others were received from attorneys, law enforcement officers, civic organizations, and concerned citizens not involved in any particular court action. Among the new complaints were 52 initiated by the Commission on its own motion. A chart provides a breakdown of the source of complaints received. Specific cases are documented under the following categories: determinations of removal, determinations of censure, determinations of admonition, and Commission determinations reviewed by the Court of Appeals. The appendix contains biographies of Commission members and attorneys roster of referees who served in 1997; the Commission's powers, duties, and history; text of the Rules on Judicial Conduct; text of 1997 determinations; and statistical analysis of complaints.