Legal Research

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EX-JUDGE SASSO BANNED FROM BENCH FOR INTEMPERATE CONDUCT
"The state Supreme Court on Tuesday permanently disqualified former municipal court judge Richard Sasso from judicial office, citing a voluminous record of unjudgelike behavior that included presiding in court after ingesting drugs and alcohol. The Court adopted findings by the Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct that Sasso, who resigned his judgeships in four Somerset County towns amid ethics charges, had mistreated litigants and lawyers, played fast and loose with court contempt rules, and acted disorderly in public ? notably in an altercation at a strip club."

TWO MUNICIPAL JUDGES ARE DISCIPLINED FOR DWI INFRACTIONS
"The Supreme Court [New Jersey] on Tuesday disciplined two municipal judges convicted of drunken driving, issuing a reprimand to Robert Jones, of Livingston, and a censure to Peter Tourison, who presides in Cape May, Stone Harbor and Middle Township. Tourison's sanction was heavier because, in addition to the DWI charge, he caused property damage and interfered with the police investigative process by placing foreign objects in his mouth, which could have fouled the Alcotest results. Under a new policy announced by the Court on Monday, judges convicted of DWI are banned for a year from hearing cases of that type."

'CUT UP' REMARK TO ADVERSARY'S CLIENT DRAWS A REPRIMAND
The state Supreme Court on Tuesday reprimanded a lawyer who allegedly told an opposing party, "I'm going to cut you up into bits and pieces, put you into a box and send you to India and your parents won't recognize you." In reprimanding Maplewood solo Joel Ziegler, the Court said he violated rules requiring courtesy to participants in the legal process and prohibiting conduct detrimental to the administration of justice. The Court also agreed with the Disciplinary Review Board that Ziegler "crossed the line of aggressive advocacy" when he wrote to his adversary after the incident, saying he was going to "prove to the court that your client is an unmitigated liar."

NO-CAUSE REVERSED DUE TO MISUSE OF AFTER-ACQUIRED EVIDENCE
"A state appeals court on Tuesday reversed a no-cause verdict in a whistleblower case, ruling that the trial should have been bifurcated and that after-acquired evidence of the employee's wrongdoing should not have reached the jury's ears while it was considering liability, due to the possible prejudicial effect. The ruling, in Redvanly v. Automated Data Processing, A-4082-06, grants a new trial to an employee who was let go three weeks after allegedly telling her supervisor that she intended to disclose in an upcoming internal control audit that ADP had overbilled clients, manipulated quality-survey scores and engaged in other improper conduct."

CRITICS POUNCE ON SOTOMAYOR'S REVERSAL RATE
"Reversal ? a common if sometimes painful part of life for appellate judges ? was in the spotlight last week as Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor found herself under intense scrutiny for the handful of times that the Supreme Court reversed her decisions. Only five of Sotomayor's 232 opinions for the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals have been reviewed by the Supreme Court, and three were overturned. Supporters and scholars say the reversal rates don't show much at all about the quality of her decisions or how the Court regards her work."