Issue

Discipline—improper phone call to magistrate—to demand bond reduction for her son—closing down administrative courtroom without permission—suspension

Summary

On the basis of two incidents, a district court judge was suspended without pay for 120 days for conduct in violation of Canons 1, 2A, 2B, 3A(3), 3A(5), 3B(1), and 3C of the North Carolina Code of Judicial Conduct and for conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice that brings the judicial office into disrepute (N.C.G.S. § 7A-376(b)). In the first incident, the judge called a magistrate's office, used her judicial title to ask if a particular criminal defendant had been placed into custody without disclosing that that defendant was her son, and then yelled at the magistrate while demanding a bond reduction for her son based on inaccurate information. In the second incident, the judge–while on notice of the disciplinary charges filed against her based on the first incident–demanded, without first notifying her chief district court judge, that an assistant district attorney and a presiding magistrate close their administrative courtroom for her own use despite an active administrative order mandating that the courtroom remain open; notably, the judge's conduct caused more than one hundred cases to be continued.

Summary from the North Carolina Reports digest (official subject index). Read the opinion →