While judges should get a lot of leeway when it comes to their courtrooms, there should also be limits. Things like play handcuffing children to prove a point or actually handcuffing children over fake laws are at the top of my “shit judges shouldn’t be doing in their own courtrooms” list, but that list is due for an update. Law.com has coverage on the “order” Justice Naita Semaj has been bringing to her court:
A Bronx jurist agreed to be censured, admitting she unjustifiably ejected three assistant district attorneys from her courtroom, and was impatient and discourteous to prosecutors, often reacting with sarcasm during a 13-month span, a judicial watchdog said Tuesday.
The New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct’s 10-0 decision that state Supreme Court Justice Naita Semaj should be censured said the six-year jurist acknowledged she violated misconduct rules on numerous occasions and demonstrated at least the appearance of bias.
The short end of the story is that even judges shouldn’t flippantly kick DAs from their courtroom or insinuate that an ADA could get some extra leeway with her male supervisors because she was pregnant. Sometimes the time and place really is never and nowhere. While this is far from the first time that complaints against Justice Semaj have led to her behavior being under review (Semaj once chided a victim’s mother for not being on time for the arraignment of the man who allegedly killed her son), the commission described her demeanor as “contrite” and “cooperative.” Hopefully this will be the push she needed to act in a manner befitting a judge.
Bronx Judge Is Censured Over Unwarranted Ejections and ‘Unseemly’ Criticism of Prosecutors [Law.com]
Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s . He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who is learning to swim, is interested in critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at cwilliams@abovethelaw.com and by tweet at @WritesForRent.
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