Matter of Watson

• Decision Date: 10 June 2003
• Citation: 763 N.Y.S.2d 219,794 N.E.2d 1,100 N.Y.2d 290
• Parties: In the Matter of WILLIAM WATSON, a Judge of the Lockport City Court, Niagara County, Petitioner. STATE COMMISSION ON JUDICIAL CONDUCT, Respondent.
• Court: New York Court of Appeals Court of Appeals

100 N.Y.2d 290

794 N.E.2d 1

763 N.Y.S.2d 219

In the Matter of WILLIAM WATSON, a Judge of the Lockport City Court, Niagara County, Petitioner.

STATE COMMISSION ON JUDICIAL CONDUCT, Respondent.

Court of Appeals of the State of New York.

Argued May 7, 2003.

Decided June 10, 2003.

Connors & Vilardo, LLP, Buffalo (Terrence M. Connors, Lawrence J. Vilardo and Vincent E. Doyle III of counsel), and Timothy P. Murphy, Lockport, for petitioner.

Gerald Stern, New York City, and John J. Postel for respondent.

Eliot Spitzer, Attorney General, Albany (Caitlin J. Halligan, Robert H. Easton and Edward Lindner of counsel), for Attorney General of State of New York, amicus curiae.

Locke Liddell & Sapp LLP, Houston, Texas (S. Shawn Stephens

and Fermeen F. Fazal of counsel), for Ad Hoc Committee Dedicated to an Independent Judiciary, amicus curiae.

Deborah Goldberg, New York City, and J.J. Gass for Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law and others, amici curiae.

Chief Judge KAYE and Judges SMITH, CIPARICK, WESLEY, ROSENBLATT, GRAFFEO and READ concur in per curiam opinion.

OPINION OF THE COURT

Per Curiam.

The Commission on Judicial Conduct determined that petitioner, a City Court judge, should be removed from office (see NY Const, art VI, § 22; Judiciary Law § 44), sustaining one charge of misconduct. Upon our plenary review of the facts and circumstances of this case, we find petitioner has engaged in misconduct warranting censure.

In 1999, petitioner took a leave of absence from his employment as an assistant district attorney in the Niagara County District Attorney's office to run as a candidate for a Lockport City Court judgeship. Petitioner had two opponents in the primary, both incumbent City Court judges. Beginning in April 1999 and continuing until the primary election in September of that year, petitioner made a series of campaign statements that one of his opponents found objectionable. A few days before the primary, the opponent lodged a complaint with the Commission on Judicial Conduct alleging that petitioner's campaign statements violated the Rules Governing Judicial Conduct. Petitioner defeated his opponents in the primary and won the general election, taking office as City Court judge in January 2000.

The Commission on Judicial Conduct issued a complaint accusing petitioner of one charge of misconduct arising from statements he made during the 1999 campaign. The complaint alleged that petitioner violated section 100.5 (A) (4) (d) (i) of the Rules Governing Judicial Conduct, which prohibits a judge or judicial candidate from "mak[ing] pledges or promises of conduct in office other than the faithful and impartial performance of the duties of the office" (see 22 NYCRR 100.5 [A] [4] [d] [i]). The complaint also charged that petitioner's statements violated sections 100.1, 100.2 (A), 100.5 (A) (4) (a), 100.5 (A) (4) (d) (ii) and 100.5 (A) (4) (d) (iii).¹ The exhibits to the complaint included a letter petitioner forwarded to law enforcement personnel who resided in the City of Lockport asking them to elect him and "put a real prosecutor on the bench." Petitioner asserted in the correspondence that "[w]e are in desperate need of a Judge who will work with the police, not against them. We need a judge who will assist our law enforcement officers as they aggressively work towards cleaning up our city streets." The complaint also referenced three "letters to the editor" petitioner authored that were published in the Lockport Union-Sun & Journal in which he decried what he viewed as an increase in drug crime in the city. He contended that "Lockport is attracting criminals from Rochester, Niagara Falls and Buffalo to come into our city to peddle their drugs and commit their crimes." Petitioner stated that, as a prosecutor, he had "sent a message that this type of conduct will not be tolerated in Niagara County" and he urged the voters to elect him "so that the City of Lockport can begin to send this same message."

In newspaper advertisements, petitioner cited an increase in arrest statistics for various categories of crime, claiming that "arrests tell the story" and stating that he had "proven experience in the war against crime." Petitioner correlated the increase in arrests with the time period the incumbents were in office, indicating that if elected he would take action they had failed to take to deter crime. These statements echoed sentiments he expressed in the correspondence published in the local newspaper. For instance, in one letter, petitioner wrote: "[m]y opponents have been in office together for the last several years. Arrests have skyrocketed in Lockport recently, even though crime is down countywide, statewide and nationally." Petitioner was quoted making similar statements in newspaper articles about the race. On one occasion when petitioner and his opponents were asked to respond in writing to questions posed by a reporter, petitioner cited drugs and crime as the main problem in the city and remarked that "the court must remain impartial and evenhanded, but the city must establish a reputation for zero tolerance" and "deter criminals before they come into the city." He posited that the caseload in City Court was large because "criminals from surrounding communities are flocking into Lockport. Once we gain a reputation for being tough, you'd be surprised how many will go elsewhere, making the caseload much more manageable." In another newspaper account, petitioner told a reporter that the city "must no longer put up with drug dealers and other violent criminals from Rochester, Buffalo and Niagara Falls, who feel that it is acceptable for them to come into the City of Lockport and commit crimes." He stated: "We need a city court judge who will work together with our local police department to help return Lockport to the city it once was" and suggested that a judge could use bail and sentencing to "make it very unattractive for a person to be committing a crime in the City of Lockport."

In his answer to the Commission complaint and during his testimony at the hearing before a Referee, petitioner admitted that he had written the letters and advertisements and made the statements attributed to him in the newspaper articles. He explained that his intention was to emphasize his experience and qualifications as a prosecutor and his concern over the increase in crime in the City of Lockport.

The Referee issued a report finding that petitioner had engaged in misconduct by violating the sections charged and that petitioner's statements "created the appearance that he would not be impartial as a judge, would not judge cases on an individual basis or upon the merits, and would be biased against criminal defendants." Following the Referee's report petitioner wrote to the Commission and stated, "I now believe that I did, in fact, commit violations of the Rules through my campaign advertisements and related statements." Petitioner then apologized for his statements.

The matter proceeded to oral argument before the full Commission. Petitioner again acknowledged that he had exercised poor judgment in making the statements during the campaign and expressed remorse. Before the Commission issued its determination, however, the United States Supreme Court decided Republican Party of Minn. v White (536 US 765 [2002]) which invalidated on First Amendment grounds a Minnesota judicial conduct provision that prohibited judicial candidates from announcing their views on disputed legal or political issues. Soon thereafter, this Court held in Matter of Shanley (98 NY2d 310 [2002]) that the use of the phrase "law and order candidate" in the context of the Shanley judicial campaign did not constitute misconduct.

In the wake of these decisions, the Commission offered petitioner the opportunity to comment on the recent legal developments. Petitioner's counsel submitted a memorandum arguing that White and Shanley "evidence a strong trend toward permitting open speech in judicial campaigns" and militated against the sanction of removal for petitioner's conduct. Commission counsel responded in a memorandum differentiating the rule at issue in White from the New York rules governing judicial candidate campaign speech.

Ultimately the Commission issued a determination sustaining the charge of misconduct based on violations of the cited sections, and concluding that petitioner should be removed from office. The Commission distinguished New York's rules from the "announce clause" invalidated in White and found that petitioner's statements were not analogous to the campaign statement addressed in Shanley. Two Commission members dissented on the issue of sanction only and recommended censure. Petitioner appeals to this Court as of right (see NY Const, art VI, § 22 [a]).

Because our review is plenary (see NY Const, art VI, § 22 [d]), we first determine whether petitioner's statements violated the Rules Governing Judicial Conduct and constituted misconduct worthy of sanction. Among other restrictions, a judicial candidate is prohibited from "mak[ing] pledges or promises of conduct in office other than the faithful and impartial performance of the duties of the office" (22 NYCRR 100.5 [A] [4] [d] [i]). Needless to say, statements that merely express a viewpoint do not amount to promises of future conduct. On the other hand, candidates need not preface campaign statements with the phrase "I promise" before their remarks may reasonably be interpreted by the public as a pledge to act or rule in a particular way if elected. A candidate's statements must be reviewed in their totality and in the context of the campaign as a whole to determine whether the candidate has unequivocally articulated a pledge or promise of future conduct or decisionmaking that compromises the faithful and impartial performance of judicial duties. We find that petitioner's comments in this case, when viewed in light of his comprehensive campaign...