Niagara Falls city court judge Judge Robert Restaino lost before the New York State Appellate Court, which upheld his removal for the jailing 46 people over a cell phone in his courtroom. It was not a close question with a 9-1 vote to send Restaino packing.
Restaino’s bizarre conduct occurred after he heard a cell phone in his courtroom, click here. It is hard to see how to retain a judge, even with a good record, after such an outrageous use of power.
For the full story, click here.
Mespo wrote:
How about just letting it go and assuming that the mortified owner put it on “vibrate.” If not, maybe he could echo locate it on the next ring since he obviously thinks he’s Batman.
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True; letting it go entirely would have been even better. 🙂
Susan:
“Asking these folks to leave the courtroom would have been appropriate and reasonable.”
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How about just letting it go and assuming that the mortified owner put it on “vibrate.” If not, maybe he could echo locate it on the next ring since he obviously thinks he’s Batman.
I completely agree, Mespo. Asking these folks to leave the courtroom would have been appropriate and reasonable. Jailing them for such a trivial offense is neither.
My only question is why it took three years to wind through the process. Talk about absolute power corrupting someone. 46 innocent citizens cramped into holding cells — 14 who couldn’t make bail. However, I did enjoy his defense that he was under “personal stress” and except for this tiny little problem his record is “unblemished.” If only John Wilkes Booth had thought of that, he could have avoided that nasty shoot-out in the blazing barn on Richard Garrett’s farm.