ALBANY -- A divided New York Commission on Judicial Conduct has agreed to merely reprimand an upstate town justice who dismissed a speeding ticket for a deployed soldier's wife, but another commissioner called it "a distorted vision of patriotism" and said the judge should be removed.
Eight commissioners agreed that Farmington Town Justice Morris H. Lew fixed Lori Gilmore's 2005 speeding ticket soon after he received an e-mail from Martin Gilmore in Iraq wondering what could be done. The men had been in the Army Reserves together.
Afterward, Lew sent Martin Gilmore an e-mail, which said in part: "The ticket has been dismissed. Please consider it a very small token of thanks for your efforts in uniform."
The commission majority said ticket-fixing was a widespread problem across the state in the 1970s before 140 judges were disciplined, and it was "egregious conduct" in this case that would normally warrant a judge's removal.
For more on this story, read Friday's edition of The Citizen.
Afterward, Lew sent Martin Gilmore an e-mail, which said in part: "The ticket has been dismissed. Please consider it a very small token of thanks for your efforts in uniform."
The commission majority said ticket-fixing was a widespread problem across the state in the 1970s before 140 judges were disciplined, and it was "egregious conduct" in this case that would normally warrant a judge's removal.
For more on this story, read Friday's edition of The Citizen.
