Albuquerque lawmaker wants judicial misconduct made public
Posted at: 01/30/2012 7:32 PM
By: Stuart Dyson, KOB Eyewitness News 4
 Judge Pat Murdoch |
An Albuquerque lawmaker wants more openness and less secrecy about judges who face accusations of wrongdoing on the job - judicial misconduct.
Right now, if a New Mexico judge is accused of a crime, it is public information right away, just like any other criminal charge against any citizen.
But if the judge is accused of misconduct, something short of a crime, we won't know about it until after the Judicial Standards Commission investigates the case and holds a closed hearing.
"And there's really no reason I can think of why they shouldn't be held to the same scrutiny as other elected officials," said Sen. Sander Rue, an Albuquerque Republican. "As voters we're asked to keep these folks on the bench, or not, and we need information. The public needs information to make an informed and intelligent decision."
The proposal is a constitutional amendment. if the Hose and Senate approve it, it goes straight to the voters on the next General Election ballot. The governor's signature is not required. If it passes, and the voters approve, the public would be allowed to attend those hearings on judicial misconduct.
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