Judge traveled, socialized with lawyers appearing in her court, investigation reveals
Judge Sherri L. Eisenpress of New York socialized and traveled internationally with multiple attorneys who appeared in her court in violation of laws requiring judges to be impartial, a state investigation has found. (Photo from the New York State Unified Court System)
A New York judge socialized and traveled internationally with multiple attorneys who appeared in her court in violation of laws requiring judges to be impartial, a state investigation has found.
The Times Union reports that Judge Sherri L. Eisenpress, a justice of the New York Supreme Court’s 9th Judicial District in Rockland County, New York, agreed to retire in April and promised not to run for office again after being charged with misconduct for failing to disclose multiple conflicts of interest.
The investigation found that Eisenpress and the attorneys took at least six trips to the Dominican Republic and Mexico and participated in group text chains in which they “shared confidences and discussed and shared social and travel plans and invitations, gossip, memes, photos, off-color jokes and sexually graphic images,” according to the story.
Eisenpress failed to disclose her friendships with the attorneys and also failed to recuse herself from dozens of cases in which she had a clear conflict of interest, the investigation found. Legal filings made public this week detailed Eisenpress’ cozy relationship with multiple attorneys who appeared before her in court, the Times Union reports.
The Rockland County Business Journal has additional coverage. A Feb. 2 press release from the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct is here.
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