In re VonderHeide

OPINION OF THE COURT

Petitioner, a Town Court Justice in Northampton since 1985, brings this proceeding to review a decision of respondent finding him guilty of five charges of misconduct and determining that the sanction of removal is appropriate. In its decision sustaining the charges, respondent found that petitioner routinely sought out and interviewed witnesses outside of court and made judgments based on their unsworn ex parte communications; that he berated a teen-age boy whom he believed to be carrying an open container outside a restaurant and used intemperate language and threatened…