Sheriff Joe files four complaints of judicial misconduct

Sheriff Joe (Arpaio) filed four complaints against four judges in Maricopa county last week. I offer these without much comment (for now). I offer them as examples of how to write (or not write?) complaints. If any of them are successful, then borrow heavily from them.

I skimmed the complaint against Judge Barbara Mundell. It looks okay to me. Has the style of someone in law enforcement. But it's not apparent if the Sheriff's office provided any exhibits to back its many claims. I don't know if the Commission on Judicial Conduct will request documentation as it proceeds. I expect not.

My experience is that the Commission sends you a letter acknowledging receipt of your complaint and sends you a letter at the end of their process, either telling you your complaint was dismissed or not. And that's their only contact with you.

In all the complaints I've filed (about five over the many years, a few Federal), I've never been asked for more information to sustain a complaint, although at the Federal level, they have the right to ask if there's probable cause. (They may be able to ask at the State level too. I simply don't know.) As we saw with the dishonorable judge hinson paperwork, posted below in this blog, since a Conduct Investigation is a quasi-legal process (involving lawyers) I expect you have to provide the Commission with hard documentation for your allegations.

For example, in a Federal complaint, where Congressman Sensenbrenner, then Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee filed a complaint against Judge Cudahy, he included exhibits in his complaint. If the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee included exhibits, you should too. It not only backs your claim and makes the work of the Commission a little easier (which they'll probably appreciate), it's harder for a judge to lie to the Commission if you have documented facts.

We'll see how the Sheriff's complaints go. In any event, I'm glad he made his complaints public. That's more light shining on the Judicial Branch, which is always a good thing.

I have a story coming where a retired judge complains he doesn't like the light. Hmmm... what did Jesus say about men who hate the light?

Here are the Sheriff's complaints as PDF's. Unfortunately they are scanned images (as opposed to embedded text) which means you can't search the text.

Judicial Complaint Against Superior Court Judge Fields
Judicial Complaint Against Superior Court Judge Baca
Judicial Complaint Against Superior Court Judge Mundell
Judicial Complaint Against Superior Court Judge Donahoe