Judges Are Human, Too

The following stories support the proposition that judges, like the rest of us, are human and that some of them are quite capable of getting into hot water.

• Pennsylvania: An unprecedented case of judicial corruption is unfolding in Pennsylvania. Several hundred families have filed a class-action lawsuit against two former judges who have pleaded guilty to taking bribes in return for placing youths in privately owned jails. Judges Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan are said to have received $2.6 million for ensuring juvenile suspects were jailed in prisons operated by the companies PA Child Care and a sister company, Western PA Child Care. See Penn. Judges Get Kickbacks for Placing Youths in Privately Owned Jails.

• Iowa: A former Scott County judge who pleaded guilty to federal bank fraud, identity theft and forgery charges will make his first court appearance on state charges in February, according to documents filed in Scott County District Court. Kyle Williamson is accused of two counts of falsifying public documents. The charges include an accusation that Williamson forged the signature of a judge shortly before he was named a judge himself. See Former judge’s state charges going forward. See also: Kyle Williamson case: Former judge pleads guilty to falsifying documents.

• New York: Supreme Court Justice Joseph S. Alessandro of the Ninth Judicial District in New York and his brother, Bronx Civil Court Judge Francis M. Alessandro, should be removed from office for failing to repay on time a $250,000 loan made to one of Joseph Alessandro's campaigns and for misstating their financial holdings and obligations on disclosure forms and loan applications, the Commission on Judicial Conduct recommended in two decisions made public in February. See N.Y. Agency Recommends Removal of Two Judges Who Are Brothers (Read the Commission's Findings on Justice Joseph Alessandro and Judge Francis Alessandro).

• New York: A Long Island judge notoriously dubbed "Senator Road Rage" for his horrifying behavior while he was a politician nearly mowed down a traffic agent in Manhattan and then threatened the officer's job, The Post has learned. Court of Claims Judge James J. Lack and his daughter, Katherine, 37, were "barreling down" West 60th Street near the Mandarin Oriental Hotel at about 5 p.m. when they crossed paths with the unlucky agent, sources said. The robed rage-a-holic - who's been involved in dozens of angry driving incidents over the last 20 years - gunned his engine to swerve around the agent, who struck his hand on the passenger's-side mirror, the sources said. See ROAD-RAGE LI JUDGE IS AT IT AGAIN.

• Texas: The presiding judge of the highest criminal court in Texas has been charged by the state judicial ethics commission. Judge Sharon Keller has been charged over her refusal to allow Michael Richard, a death row prisoner, to file an after-hours appeal in 2007. Keller, a Republican, could be removed from office or reprimanded if she is convicted. The State Commission on Judicial Conduct, in its charging papers, said Keller's "willful and persistent failure" to follow her court's execution-day procedures on Sept. 25, 2007, constituted "incompetence in the performance of duties of office." See Texas judge charged with judicial misconduct.

• Arkansas: A lawyer accused of trying to defraud a pawnshop out of a lawn mower has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge and surrendered his law license. Donald Warren Senior of Pine Bluff was serving as a special judge in Jefferson County when he signed an order July 16 for Money Corner to release a Land-Pride Finish Mowing Deck to him. Warren claimed he was the owner, although he had not filed a police report on the theft of the machine. See Ark. lawyer enters guilty plea, surrenders license.

For other posts on judges in hot water, go here and go here. knuckleheaded judges zeta