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NY Judge Censured for Appearing on Bench Inebriated By Michael J. Paquette On Sept. 1, 2004, Kingston City Court Judge James P. Gilpatric, an alcoholic who had been sober since June 1994, arrived at Ulster Family Court representing a party in a routine scheduling calendar matter, which was adjourned. Later that day, while still inebriated, he took the bench in his own court "but was unable to continue to preside" and was relieved of his duties, the commission said. The judge returned to the bench the next day, and served until Sept. 15. He entered a residential treatment program on Sept. 16, completed it and returned to the bench on Oct. 7, where he has since served "without impairment or incident," the commission said. The commission determined the appropriate sanction for the isolated incident was censure because Judge Gilpatric "frankly recognizes his condition and has engaged in stringent efforts . . . to fight the disease from which he suffers." In dissent, Alan J. Pope, the committee's vice chair, said he was "deeply troubled" by the censure. The judge, he said, should have received only a confidential letter of caution since under state law alcoholism is considered a chronic illness. "I do not believe a judge, or anyone else . . . should be publicly sanctioned because of a one-time isolated failure to control an illness," he said. Perinton Town Justice
Thomas A. Klonick joined the dissent By Zach Haberman An alcoholic judge who showed up so drunk for work that he had to leave the bench has been given a sobering wakeup call by an state oversight panel. Judge James Gilpatric of Kingston went on an alcohol and Benedryl binge the night before he worked as a lawyer during an Ulster County Family Court hearing on Sept. 1, 2004, according to the Commission on Judicial Conduct. Later that day, Gilpatric an admitted alcoholic, who relapsed after 10 years on the wagon took the bench in Kingston City Court, but was too trashed to preside over any cases, the commission said in recommending the judge be censured. Gilpatric, a judge since 1994, admitted himself to a 21-day rehabilitation program after the incident. "The public is entitled to a judge who does not come to court while under the influence of alcohol, and litigants should not have to wonder whether a judge has fallen off the wagon on a particular court date," the commission said in its ruling. One commission member felt Gilpatric should not be excoriated for his relapse. "I do not believe a judge, or anyone else for that matter, should be publicly sanctioned because of a one-time isolated failure to control an illness," wrote Judge Thomas Klonick, who voted with one other commissioner for Gilpatric to receive a private reprimand. Another Judge Reprimanded for Drunk Driving New York Lawyer COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A panel of state appellate judges publicly reprimanded Ohio Supreme Court Justice Alice Robie Resnick on Wednesday, saying her drunken driving conviction violated the state's judicial code of conduct. No other discipline was recommended. Other judges have had their law licenses suspended following such a conviction, but the panel said those cases had aggravating circumstances, while Resnick has had no discipline against her since she was sworn in as an attorney in 1964. Resnick, 66, acknowledged the allegations when an attorney discipline complaint was filed against her in November. The complaint said she violated the part of the code that says, "A judge shall respect and comply with the law and shall act at all times in a manner that promotes public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary." Resnick was pulled over on Jan. 31 and at first drove away from state troopers who were questioning her. They followed her and later pulled her over again. In a video shot by a patrol car camera, Resnick tells a police sergeant questioning her that "I did have something to drink." She repeatedly asks to be let go and mentions her rulings as a judge, saying, "My God, you know I decide all these cases in your favor. And my golly, look what you're doing to me." She pleaded guilty to drunken driving in February and her driver's license was suspended for six months. She said then that she had suffered a relapse of a drinking problem. The high court usually handles attorney discipline cases, but the justices can't hear a case that involves one of their own. The panel was made up of the chief justice of the appeals courts and the presiding judge of all 12 appellate districts.
Judge Disciplined for Failing December 28, 2005 A San Bernardino County Superior Court judge was publicly admonished Tuesday for failing to report his DUI arrest and conviction to the Commission on Judicial Performance in a timely manner. "Judge [Donald] Alvarez's unlawful action …… evidences a serious disregard of the principles of personal and official conduct embodied in the California Code of Judicial Ethics," wrote CJP Chairman Marshall Grossman in the order released Tuesday. Alvarez was pulled over and charged with drunken driving in October 2003. He pleaded no contest to the misdemeanor DUI charge in January 2004 and was placed on three years of informal probation and ordered to attend an alcohol program. The code of judicial ethics requires any judge who is either charged or convicted of a crime including misdemeanor DUIs to promptly report to the CJP in writing. The commission learned of the judge's DUI conviction from a third party. In August of 2004, Alvarez wrote to the commission saying he planned to report the incident, but said, "It was never clear to me when the report should be made." Alvarez told the commission that he intended to make a report after he had completed his alcohol program in order to "report the entire complete case to the commission." The commission said he should have reported the incident as soon as he was arrested, and noted he'd been told to do so by his presiding judge. The commission concluded that his action "constitutes conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice that brings the judicial office into disrepute."
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A Feast
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