Bailiff's Suicide Attempt Ignites Ethics Complaint Against N.J. Judge
A discipline case has been launched against a New Jersey judge who allegedly had an affair with his bailiff.
The romantic relationship between the bailiff and Wilson Campbell, a Jersey City municipal judge, came to light when the woman overdosed in late June of last year, reports the New Jersey Law Journal. Asked for an explanation, she said she was depressed about breaking up with the judge, according to the ethics complaint. It was filed by the New Jersey Supreme Court’s Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct.
“Though Campbell was not (the bailiff’s) supervisor, he exercised supervisory control over her within his courtroom and thus engaged in an intimate relationship with a subordinate,” the legal publication writes, summarizing the allegations made in the complaint. “That was a breach of Canons 1 and 2a, which require judges to observe high standards of conduct and to act at all times in a manner that promotes public confidence in the judiciary, and it was also conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice, in violation of Rule 2:15-8(a)(6).”
After the bailiff’s drug overdose, Campbell admitted to a relationship with the woman that began in April and ended in June of last year, reports the Jersey Journal.
Campbell remains on the bench, and his lawyer, Brian Neary of Hackensack, said Friday that his client is a fine judge who will continue to deal with the situation openly and honestly. “We hope that at the end of this he will continue to serve the citizens of Jersey City as he has,” Neary tells the Jersey Journal.
