Putnam County Circuit Court Judge Jonathan Young has been publicly reprimanded over messages the judge admitted sending “to multiple women on various social media platforms from 2015 to 2020 that are described as “overtly sexual” in nature.
The messages were sent to, among others, a legal professional from a firm that had a case before him as well as to a litigant who had a child custody case before the judge. As the reprimand is written it appears that the messages were sent to others as well, and according to the complaint were often sent from social media accounts with an image of the judge wearing judicial robes.
The judge received a 30-day suspension as punishment for violating the judicial code of ethics with the punishment suspended or held in abeyance as long as there are no further complaints during the remainder of his term. The report describes the punishment imposed as the most severe short of removal from office. The panel considered mitigation in that Young acknowledged the problems created by his actions and that he fully cooperated with the Disciplinary Counsel, and has no prior record of discipline since becoming a judge.
Young must also refrain from using a picture of himself in judicial robes on any social media unless it involves official business. He must complete a judicial ethics program specifically on social media by the end of the year and recuse himself from any cases involving any those involved in the matter.
The report from the Tennessee Board of Judicial Conduct is dated October 5, 2020, states that an investigation was authorized August 6, 2020. The report indicates Judge Young gave a written response dated August 31 in which he admitted to the allegations and “took full responsibility” for his actions.
The board's letter to Judge Young signed by board chair Criminal Judge Dee David Gay states, “Engaging in sexual conversations and soliciting pictures while in your judicial robes would appear to a reasonable person to be coercive, particularly when the recipients of those communications include former litigants and persons whose job responsibilities intersect with the court system.”
The letter further states, “Here, your inappropriate use of social media has created ethical dilemmas for attorneys who litigate before you, especially in domestic relation matters. Some of these attorneys have had to seek advice from the Board of Professional Responsibility regarding their own ethical obligations to disclose to clients what they know about your activities. Also, in at least one instance, a party used this knowledge to their strategic advantage in a case. Thus, although you may have thought your social media communications were private, your activities have adversely affected the administration of justice.”
The letter says that Young had to recuse himself from at least one case after a party learned of his social media activities and asked that the judge step aside on their case.
The letter from Judge Gay continues, “Judges are required to act at all times in a manner that promotes public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary. Inappropriate messages sent by a sitting judge to anyone, much less to those who have ties to the court system like former litigants and legal professionals, do not inspire such confidence. To the contrary, such ethical lapses erode the confidence we ask the public to place in our judges. Indeed, every time a judicial officer engages in misconduct, he or she spends the goodwill of the judiciary as a whole”.
“In short, as you have acknowledged, your use of social media has reflected poorly on you as a jurist. The sanctions imposed today are among the most severe that can be imposed short of removal from office and the Board trusts that it will be unnecessary to revisit these issues in the future.”
Judge Young posted a message concerning the matter on his personal Facebook page Tuesday that reads in part, “As a judge I work hard to stay out of the news, but unfortunately it happened. As I wish I could tell the whole story most of this is confidential. However know that I could have fought to keep this private, but chose not to do so. While it was a private mistake some chose to make it public and that is fine. I will say a few years ago I was in a dark place and sought comfort where I shouldn’t. I quickly ended everything before it went further than just talk but that was not enough. So I thought it would be best let them air my issue so I had nothing to hide.”
Young has served as a Circuit Judge in the 13th judicial district including Clay, Cumberland, DeKalb, Overton, Pickett, Putnam, and White Counties since 2014.
Read the entire document from the Board of Judicial Conduct here
No comments:
Post a Comment