The top two officials for a state agency that has been criticized for their kid-glove handling of judges ad court officials they are supposed to discipline and regulate have decided to recuse themselves from proceedings against Pulaski County Circuit Court Judge Wendall Griffen.
Griffen, who lay on a cot outside the governor’s mansion to protest the death penalty last month after blocking the state from using a lethal injection drug, is being investigated and targeted for removal from the bench.
Griffen has filed a complaint against the state Supreme Court over its decision to bar him from death penalty cases. Justices who also lifted Griffen’s order on the execution drugs referred the judge to the commission.
David Sachar, executive director of the Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission, and Emily White, the commission’s deputy director, announced on Tuesday they would recuse themselves from the cases involving Pulaski County Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen.
The latest move by Sachar and White follows a pattern of the agency seemingly avoiding much involvement when it comes to actually disciplining or disabling judges for their actions in and out of the court room.
The recusals will leave the commission responsible for hiring special counsel for the cases involving Griffen, inflating an already state-funded budget.
According to the Commission’s website, JDDC jurisdiction extends to about 400 judges, including the justices of the Supreme Court, judges of the Court of Appeals, circuit court judges, and full and part-time judges of the district courts, city courts, and police courts, as well as retired judges who serve as special judges
The types of allegations that may be investigated by the Commission include ex parte (one-sided) communications on the merits of a pending case, clear conflicts of interest, rude or intimidating courtroom demeanor, serious neglect of duties, racist or sexist remarks, prohibited political or campaign conduct, bias or favoritism, gross abuse of political power, the receipt of gifts from those who appear before the court, and other misconduct both on and off the bench.
That apparently doesn’t encompass renting rooms that contain drugs for self-proclaimed escorts or, in the case of a recent situation in Johnson County, driving under the influence and blowing through a state police roadblock.
Johnson County district judge William Pearson did both of those things, as well as other criminal acts, back in January and the only penalties seem to be small bruising around the wrist area from a brisk slapping by the JDDC.
In fact, wrist slapping seems to be the favor mode of punishment for the JDDC.
Another example involves the latest round of courtroom maneuvering for a Watts, Oklahoma woman who was arrested in December on drug charges in Pulaski County also delays any actions against Jim O’Hern, the Fort Smith District judge who rented the room for her where the drugs were found.
O’Hern, who remains on the bench has not been charged with a crime but the JDDC insists the investigation remains open, apparently awaiting the outcome of any legal action taken against Brandie Gibson.
“The matter is still under investigation and advisement,” said Emily White, deputy executive director of the Arkansas Judicial Disciple and Disability Commission after the latest inquiry. “That is the only statement we will be making at this time.”
That marks the fifth month in a row for an official “no comment” from the JDDC concerning O’Hern, who was detained by Little Rock police and questioned in the aftermath of the arrest of Gibson back in December.
O’Hern continues to sit on the bench in Fort Smith handing down sentences despite the ongoing “investigation” of the incident involving a woman who self describes herself as O’Hern’s fiance.
Ironically, the judge in the case against Gibson on the drug charges in Pulaski County is none other than the controversial Griffen
White’s latest statement parrots that given in the previous four months by JDDC executive director David Sachar, who has been out of the office for the past several weeks due to a surgery.
History has shown that as far as the JDDC is concerned, judge’s judging judges usually turn up very few negative judgments against … well … other judges.
In fact, if past outcomes are a predictor of future performance, O’Hern will probably survive the investigation with little more than a nod, wink and wrist-slap from the JDDC.
The latest statistics for a full year that are available are from 2015. That year, the JDDC handled 253 officially compiled complaints, of which 234 were summarily dismissed.
Of the remaining 19 complaints, two resulted in public reprimands or censure, one resulted in a public admonishment and one resulted in a judges resignation or retirement during the investigation.
What happened to the other 15 is unclear.
From the JDDC website:
“The statutory basis for removal of a judge includes willful violation of the Code of Judicial Conduct or Professional Responsibility, a willful or persistent failure to perform official duties, habitual intemperance due to alcohol or drug use that interferes with the proper performance of judicial duties, conviction of a felony, conviction of a criminal act that reflects adversely on the judge’s honesty, trustworthiness or fitness as a judge in other respects, or the commission of conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, misrepresentation, or that is prejudicial to the administration of justice. In addition to its misconduct jurisdiction, the Commission may investigate whether a judge has a mental or physical disability that prevents the proper performance of judicial duties.”
Or not?
Since 1990, 127 formal complaints, out of hundreds filed, have risen to the level of a final commission action. Eighteen of those final commission actions resulted in the resignation or retirement of the judge, while six others resulted in the outright removal from office.
The phrases “letter of admonishment, public/private reprimand, suspension with from office with pay, letter of reprimand and letter of informal adjustment” seems to dominate the list of final outcomes.
That mixture of home cooking has resulted in six judges’ letter of resignation and agreeing to never to serve in the Arkansas Judiciary again.
If the JDDC were a baseball player, it would be batting 0.047% over the past twenty-seven years. That stellar performance is delivered by a state commission that has six full time employees.
Combine those cases with the vexing number of complaints that never saw the light of day in the same time period, and one might understand the public. skepticism about the wolves that are guarding the hen house.Or wolf’s lair.
Which leads observers to concur a probable punishment for O’Hern will be within the odds of a lottery win.
The Commission has nine active members, appointed for six years and eligible to serve two terms.
They include Judge Stephen Routon, Judge Joyce Williams Warren. Judge Kirk Johnson, attorney’s Brett MCDaniel, Derrick W. Smith and Thomas G. Williams and public members Roger Carter, Maxine Allen and Sam Seamans.
The total appropriated in the 2017 Arkansas general budget to fund the JDDC is $690,343, including $368,672 in salaries and $113,081 in personal service matching for six full time employees.
Dennis W. McCaslin
Dennis McCaslin has been a longtime news and sports reporter for several media outlets in the Fort Smith area. He has also been a well known radio personality and play-by-play announcer for several years prior to joining InsideFortSmith.Com. He is the voice of the ArklahomaSports High School Game of the Week. E-mail: [email protected]
