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August hearing set for appeals judge in conduct case Wednesday, Jul 11, 2007 By Rob Moritz Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - The state commission that disciplines judges has set aside two days next month for a hearing to determine whether Arkansas Court of Appeals Judge Wendell Griffen violated the code of judicial conduct by making public statements critical of the Bush administration, the Iraq war and other issues. The hearing, first tentatively set for July 20, was moved back a month because of scheduling and is now set for Aug. 23-24, David Stewart, the new executive director of the state Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission, said Tuesday. "We needed an extra day, I thought, based on the history of the case," said Stewart, who replaced Jim Badami, who retired at the end of June. Griffen said later Tuesday he was unaware the hearing date had been changed. "I'm disappointed that the commission appears determine to continue to drag this thing along," he said, adding that he had already planned for witnesses, including two from out of state, to be at the July 20 meeting. Griffen said he was perplexed by the delay in resolving a case involving comments he made nearly two years ago, in September 2005. "It bewilders me how the public is being served by taking years to resolve an ethics complaint when there is no dispute about the essential facts and the commission concedes that this is pretty much a question of law," he said. "I'm disappointed, but I'm stuck with the hand that I've been deal with once again." He suggested delaying the hearing served to keep public attention on the case into the fall, when judicial candidates can begin raising money for the 2008 campaign. He said he planned to seek re-election to his judicial seat. Stewart did not immediately return a call to his office Tuesday seeking comment. Also Tuesday, the American Civil Liberties Union asked the commission for permission to argue in support of Griffen during the hearing. Holly Dickson, attorney for the ACLU's Arkansas chapter, said any discipline by the commission of Griffen based on the current charges would constitute a violation of his First Amendment right to free speech. In written responses previously filed with the commission, Griffen has argued that the topics he commented on were protected under the First Amendment. He is accused of violating codes of judicial conduct by, among other things, publicly criticizing President Bush's nomination of John Roberts for chief justice in a September 2005 speech to the National Baptist Convention USA. Griffen is an officer in the nation's largest black religious organization. Later, he criticized the Bush administration's handling of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina during a speech to the Arkansas chapter of the NAACP. Griffen also publicly supported raising the state minimum wage in January 2006 and criticized the Iraq war at a Fayetteville church in October of that year. The commission met March 16 and voted 5-3 to formally charge him with violating the code of judicial conduct. In April, Griffen wrote that the conduct described in the charges "involved personal extra-judicial comments and actions about matters of general public concern that did not involve pending or impending litigation, or otherwise relate to the exercise of judicial functions or activities." The judicial code states that a judge should conduct extra-judicial activities in such a way that they do not cast reasonable doubt on the judge's capacity to act impartially as a judge. The code also states that a judge "may speak, write, lecture, teach on and participate in other extra-judicial activities concerning the law, the legal system, the administration of justice and non-legal subjects," subject to the code's other requirements. |
