Facing new conduct probe, Kentucky judge fights back in First Amendment suit
After he was suspended from the bench last year for 15 days for criticizing the prosecutor in a driving under the influence case, a Kentucky judge said he did nothing wrong but didn’t fight the ethics penalty to avoid the cost of an appeal.
However, Campbell County District Court Judge Gregory Popovich is now asserting a violation of his First Amendment rights in a federal lawsuit, amid a new investigation by the commonwealth’s Judicial Conduct Commission, the Cincinnati.com reported Thursday.
Popovich alleges that the ethics probe is politically motivated. He says it violates not only his own free speech rights but those of the individuals who elected him; he is joined in the suit by three local residents who voted for him. “Out of fear of having their speech mischaracterized, judges will fail to speak candidly and provide the guidance for which they are sought,” Popovich says in the suit.
He also contends the JCC violated his due-process rights by both investigating and deciding complaints.
Attorney Jeff Mando represents the commission. He declined to comment on the Popovich ethics matter but said the Kentucky Supreme Court authorized the commission’s role in handling judicial ethics complaints, Cincinnati.com reports.
The article doesn’t include any comment from Popovich or his legal counsel.
The new ethics probe of Popovich would ordinarily have been confidential, but became public due to the lawsuit filed by the judge, the article notes.
In an October letter, the commission said it is investigating 54 allegations, including that the judge is “habitually impatient, undignified and discourteous” with lawyers and defendants, Cincinnati.com reports.
See also:
Northern Kentucky Tribune: “Campbell District Court Judge Popovich suspended for 15 days by state Judicial Conduct Commission”
