Phila. Judge on Hot Seat re Allegedly Bogus ‘Stay-Away’ Order He Issued

Legal Ethics

Phila. Judge on Hot Seat re Allegedly Bogus ‘Stay-Away’ Order He Issued

Posted Aug 15, 2008, 05:28 pm CST
By Martha Neil

Seeking to help out a lawyer whose daughter was receiving unwanted attention from an adult neighbor, Philadelphia Municipal Judge James DeLeon allegedly prepared a bogus "stay-away" order warning the individual to keep his distance, or risk arrest.

Now, however, it is the judge himself who is facing potential sanctions, charged by the state Judicial Conduct Board last week with misusing his judicial office, reports the Philadelphia Daily News.

Specifically, DeLeon, who has been on the bench since 1988, is accused of creating an appearance of bias, allowing a social relationship to influence his judgment and participating in an ex parte communication concerning the bogus order he reportedly created in 2005, according to the complaint (PDF) filed by the board in the commonwealth's Court of Judicial Discipline. The order was never docketed or filed in court, and the individual whose conduct was at issue was given neither notice nor an opportunity for a hearing before it was issued, the complaint says.

Attorney Samuel Stretton, who represents DeLeon, says he expects his client to resolve the case in a manner that allows him to continue in office as a judge.

"He made a major error in judgment," the lawyer says of DeLeon. "He was clearly wrong and he has admitted that. He's a very good judge with a good judicial record. And he got no benefit whatsoever from this."

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