10 years ago this month:

• The Arkansas Judicial Discipline & Disability Commission publicly admonished a judge for failing to promptly and expeditiously decide matters before him and failing to report those delays as required by an administrative order. Letter of Admonishment (Smith) (Arkansas Judicial Discipline & Disability Commission July 21, 2008).
• The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court publicly reprimanded a former judge for sending 2 letters on judicial stationery about a libel case he had brought to the publisher of the Boston Herald, the defendant in his case. In the Matter of Murphy, 897 N.E.2d 1220 (Massachusetts 2008).
• Based on an agreed statement of facts and joint recommendation, the Mississippi Supreme Court publicly reprimanded a judge for delay in rendering a decision. Commission on Judicial Performance v. Agin, 987 So.2d 418 (Mississippi 2008).
• The Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline ordered a judge to publicly apologize for making 2 contributions to judicial candidates, of $5,000 each, from his unspent campaign funds; the Commission also ordered the judge to attend an ethics course at the National Judicial College without using unspent campaign funds to do so. In the Matter of Gates, Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law, and Imposition of Discipline (Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline July 7, 1998).
• The New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct publicly censured a judge for (1) placing monies received in 5 cases in a file cabinet where they remained for months or years until discovered during the Commission investigation; (2) depositing court funds into the court account monthly rather than within 72 hours of receipt as required by law; and (3) failing to notify the Department of Motor Vehicles regarding defendants who did not answer charges or pay fines as required by law. In the Matter of Roller, Determination (New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct July 7, 2008).
• Adopting the findings of the Board of Commissioners on Grievances and Discipline, the Ohio Supreme Court permanently disbarred a judge for (1) attempting to conceal a possible conflict of interest and to benefit secretly from funds illegally acquired by a known felon; (2) commenting on the results of a polygraph examination administered to a court employee; (3) failing to disqualify himself from a criminal case against his office administrator’s son and a foreclosure action against the office administrator and her husband; and (4) mishandling the estates of his uncle and cousin. Disciplinary Counsel v. Hoskins, 891 N.E.2d 324 (Ohio 2008).
• Accepting an agreement for discipline by consent, the South Carolina Supreme Court publicly reprimanded a former judge for making an inappropriate statement in commenting on a warrant, reacting in an overly harsh manner to comments made by a speaker at a seminar on criminal domestic violence, directing a defendant in a criminal domestic violence case to look at the victim, and incorrectly advising a defendant of the penalty at a bond hearing. In the Matter of Lamb, 665 S.E.2d 169 (South Carolina 2008).
• The Texas State Commission on Judicial Conduct publicly admonished a judge for conducting a proceeding without a prosecutor, conducting a second proceeding in the case over the telephone and without a prosecutor, discussing the merits of cases with the complaining witnesses outside the presence of the defendant and/or a prosecutor, issuing capias pro fine warrants without a judgment against the defendant, coercing the defendant to pay all fines instanter with the threat of arrest and jail for entering a plea of not guilty, failing to announce or render her judgments in open court, and failing to reduce her judgments to writing. Public Admonition of Lawless and Order of Additional Education (Texas State Commission on Judicial Conduct July 1, 2008).