Judge libeled by Boston Herald agrees to step down
Lawyer Blogs
A judge who won a $2 million libel award from the Boston Herald, then sent threatening letters to its publisher, will step down from the bench, a court said Wednesday.
Judge Ernest Murphy and the state Commission on Judicial Conduct have agreed Murphy is "permanently disabled" from performing his judicial duties, according to the order from the state Supreme Judicial Court.
Murphy has said the libel case took a severe physical and emotional toll and he suffers from post-traumatic stress.
The commission initiated a complaint in October, alleging that Murphy suffered from disabilities that affected his performance. The court sealed the complaint and most related documents because they contain personal medical information.
Murphy's attorney, Michael Mone, said he was prohibited from commenting on the agreement.
Howard Neff, a staff attorney for the commission, would not comment on details of the complaint, but said the court accepted the agreement and "ordered that Judge Murphy shall not sit again as a judge in Massachusetts."
The Supreme Judicial Court hasn't decided yet whether to impose on Murphy the commission's recommendation for a 30-day suspension without pay, $25,000 fine and public censure for using court letterhead to write a threatening letter to the Herald's publisher, Patrick Purcell.
The agreement allows Murphy to continue to receive his judicial pay for up to four months. During that period, he must use any accrued vacation and sick time.
Related listings
-
Jury finds ranch negligent in 10-death landslide
Lawyer Blogs 08/20/2008A jury has ruled that a ranch company's negligence helped lead to the huge 2005 landslide that crushed part of a seaside community and killed 10 people.After a trial of nearly two months, the jurors in Ventura County Superior Court found on Tuesday t...
-
Court protests halt hearing in immigrant killing
Lawyer Blogs 08/19/2008Courthouse protests have caused a brief interruption in the preliminary hearing of three teenagers charged in the beating death of a Mexican immigrant in a small Pennsylvania town.About 40 protesters outside the courthouse in Pottsville have been tol...
-
Calif top court: Docs can't withhold care to gays
Lawyer Blogs 08/19/2008California's highest court on Monday barred doctors from invoking their religious beliefs as a reason to deny treatment to gays and lesbians, ruling that state law prohibiting sexual orientation discrimination extends to the medical profession....
Grounds for Divorce in Ohio - Sylkatis Law, LLC
A divorce in Ohio is filed when there is typically “fault” by one of the parties and party not at “fault” seeks to end the marriage. A court in Ohio may grant a divorce for the following reasons:
• Willful absence of the adverse party for one year
• Adultery
• Extreme cruelty
• Fraudulent contract
• Any gross neglect of duty
• Habitual drunkenness
• Imprisonment in a correctional institution at the time of filing the complaint
• Procurement of a divorce outside this state by the other party
Additionally, there are two “no-fault” basis for which a court may grant a divorce:
• When the parties have, without interruption for one year, lived separate and apart without cohabitation
• Incompatibility, unless denied by either party
However, whether or not the the court grants the divorce for “fault” or not, in Ohio the party not at “fault” will not get a bigger slice of the marital property.