Legal News

Curses! Angry Judge Suspended for Expletive-Filled Voice Mail

By Ashby Jones

There are tempers, and then there are tempers. There are people who remain composed during confrontations, but afterward kick a wall or hurl a book. Then there are people who, well, act differently.

We’re not sure if Omaha, Neb., judge Jeffrey Marcuzzo blows his top all the time, but boy did he ever on Oct. 30, 2007.

According to a story out in the National Law Journal today, Leigh Jones reports that after Marcuzzo became angered by lawyers’ decision to change the date of a hearing without telling him, Marcuzzo left the following message on the prosecutors’ voice mail:

I did not appreciate that one f— bit. And if I find out you ever did that again to me or any other members of the county court bench, I’ll shove the rest of it up your a — so f— far it will make your throat hurt.

The Supreme Court of Nebraska on Friday ruled that Marcuzzo violated judicial disciplinary rules and sentenced him to a 120-day suspension without pay. In its order, the court also cited an ex-parte conversation that the judge had with another prosecutor in which he used profanity.

Marcuzzo did not respond to the NLJ’s request for comments. But several days after the event, Marcuzzo sent a letter to the prosecutor, apologizing for his conduct and acknowledging that he had not been “exercising proper judicial demeanor” when he left the message. “I let my temper get the best of me,” the judge wrote.

Regarding the voice mail message and the ex parte communication, the court found that Marcuzzo violated ethics rules that require judges to avoid impropriety, perform their duties with impartiality and conduct themselves in a patient, dignified and courteous manner. The court also found that the judge violated the rule that prohibits conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice and conduct that brings disrepute to the office.

Photo: iStockPhoto

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on August 11, 2009 (boomark / email).