Matter of Robert

OPINION OF THE COURT

Petitioner, a Justice of the Chester Town Court, Warren County, was charged with violating the Rules of Judicial Conduct by presiding over cases involving his friends notwithstanding that he had been previously cautioned by the Commission on Judicial Conduct against presiding over such cases, and for confronting a woman, in the presence of her employer, after she had sent a letter to the editor of the local newspaper containing statements critical of petitioner. A hearing was held before a Referee designated by the Commission, and petitioner and several other witnesses…