20 years ago this month

• Based on an agreed statement of facts, the California Commission on Judicial Performance censured a judge for misusing Department of Motor Vehicle records; using court staff, stationery, and equipment for his personal activities; making sexually related comments to female court employees; being absent from the courthouse without reporting the days as vacation time; and regularly leaving the courthouse when the Friday calendar was completed, sometimes as early as noon. Inquiry Concerning Hyde, Decision and order of public censure (California Commission on Judicial Performance May 10, 1996).
• The New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct admonished a judge who had intervened in a child welfare investigation on behalf of a woman with whom he had an intimate relationship. In the Matter of Kaplan, Determination (New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct May 6, 1996).