Must be nice to avoid trouble because of your job.
The post Fist-Fighting, Cop-Pushing Judge Gets Let Off Hook Easy appeared first on Above the Law.
Today’s episode of Judges Behaving Badly is a follow-up to a beer-scented incident from a couple of years ago! The robed gavel bangers have a reputation for enforcing the law, but sometimes they like to take matters in to their own balled-up fists. In case you were wondering, yes, this happened in New York. From the ABA Journal:
A New York judge should be censured for engaging in a street brawl with his neighbors and for participating in matters involving an attorney who was buying the judge’s law practice, according to the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct.
Judge Mark J. Grisanti may accept the recommendation or seek review by the New York Court of Appeals, the judicial conduct commission said in an April 30 news release.…The street brawl happened in Buffalo, New York, in June 2020, according to findings of fact by the judicial conduct commission. It involved neighbors said to have a history of conflict with others.
The street brawl stemmed from a classic combination of car parking and fighting words. It seems like Judge Grisanti initially responded to a car being parked on his driveway by calling the police. Once he called the property enforcers to do his bidding, why in the world would he then decide to take things into his own hands? Really bad judgment call there, judge. When the police got there, things got worse:
After officers arrived, Grisanti’s wife continued to yell profanities at the neighbors, according to the factual findings. When Grisanti’s wife resisted handcuffing, an officer brought the 110-pound woman to the ground.
Grisanti shoved the officer. A second officer restrained Grisanti with a bear hug. Grisanti warned officers that they should not arrest his wife. He said his son and daughter are police officers, and he was good friends with the mayor of Buffalo.
Prosecutors did not file charges against the Grisantis.
First the story about the NY DA pulling rank to evade a parking ticket and now this? Wow, it’s almost as if people in positions of power use that authority to regularly skirt the rule of law or something. Shoving an officer and not facing any charges? People have been choked out for nine minutes in broad daylight for far less.
The leniency didn’t just end there. Some other “complexities” in Judge Grisanti’s history led to the judicial conduct commission voting on how to discipline. And while they decided to censure him, Grisanti still got off lucky:
Robert H. Tembeckjian, the commission’s administrator, had recommended that the judge be removed from office. Four commission members agreed with that recommendation, but six others voted for censure.
“I hope Judge Grisanti appreciates how close he came to being removed, and that his future conduct will exemplify the integrity and dignity required of his high office,” Tembeckjian said in the press release.
A judge who is censured won’t be able to serve as an acting justice for two years, absent special circumstances, according to the press release.
Close call, buddy. Take a breather before you start punching parkers and cops next time. Give the justice system a chance to figure things out before you end up on the other side.
Judge Should Be Censured For Street Brawl, Conflict Of Interest, New York Judicial Conduct Commission Says [ABA Journal]
Earlier: Judge Drunk On Own Power, Possibly ‘Cheap Beer’
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 cannot swim, a published author on 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.
