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.