Montgomery family court judge suspended without pay
A Montgomery Family Court judge has been reprimanded and suspended without pay after the Alabama Court of the Judiciary (COJ) decided on her punishment Friday afternoon, following a week of testimony. Judge Anita Kelly‘s suspension will last 180 days, but can be reversed at the 90-day mark if she follows specific instructions from the court. “There was no evidence introduced that Judge Kelly was ever involved in any sort of graft, corruption, scandal, or wrongful conduct other than the alleged pattern and practice delays,” the court’s order stated. “There is no evidence indicating that she intentionally did anything to harm anyone, most importantly the children impacted by her court.” In August of 2017, the Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission filed a complaint against Kelly, accusing her of repeated violations of the Alabama Canons of Judicial Ethics, citing more than six hundred family court cases showing what they believed as Kelly’s inability to handle her docket. She was accused of “unreasonable and unjustifiable delay in handling her docket in Family Court,” and faced six charges according to WSFA, including: Delay in Issuing TPR orders-Failing or refusing to timely enter orders within 30 days of completing trials on petitions for termination of parental rights Delay in Completing TPR Trials-Failing or refusing to complete the trial on a petition for termination of parental rights within 90 days of perfecting service Failure to Manage Dockets-Failing or refusing to manage court dockets to decide pending matters in a timely manner-failing or refusing to allocate sufficient time on her dockets to hear pending matters in one setting, regularly continuing dockets, unreasonable delays in setting timely hearings, unreasonable delays in resetting continued trial settings-preventing the timely resolution of disputes that profoundly affected the lives of those, in particular children, whose interests were before her court Delay in Final Divorce Decrees and Modifications-Unreasonable and unjustifiable delay or failure to rule on completed applications for uncontested-divorce complaints and requests for modification of divorce decrees, many of which included agreed-up proposed orders, thereby preventing the timely resolution of disputes that profoundly affected the lives of those, in particular children, whose interests were before her court Comprehensive Delay, Including but not Limited to Matters Charged in Charges 1 – 4-By failing to take care of the business of the court in a timely, prompt, and efficient manner, as set out in the above-stated facts-including but not limited to TPR petitions, dependency cases, delinquency cases, child support matters, PFA petitions, uncontested divorce cases, modifications of divorce decrees, and such simple matters as affidavits of substantial hardship, simple motions, party agreements, and considerations of referee recommendations-thereby preventing the timely resolution of disputes that profoundly affected the lives of those, in particular children, who interests were before her court Loss of Juvenile Treatment Funds-By failing or refusing to make a timely recommendation to the Montgomery County Commission for a Davis Treatment Center vendor to provide local treatment and care for certain juvenile defendants and thereby losing funds to continue such treatment and care for over four months. Kelly has been off the bench with pay since the original filings in August, and will be reinstated on May 14 serving without pay starting on that date. During the trial, she maintained her innocence, denying any wrongdoing, but the Judicial Inquiry Commission produced multiple witnesses to testify to the delays and failed attempts to help Kelly amend her docket, including retired Montgomery Circuit Judge Charles Price. Price, who was the presiding judge while Kelly was working in the family court, testified that he received complaints, verbally and in writing, from litigants and attorneys about Kelly and the way she ran her courtroom. Price said he spoke to Kelly about the complaints and even showed her, but it produced no changes. “It became abundantly obvious that she was resentful of my help,” Price told WSFA.
Marriage group files ethics complaints against Alabama Supreme Court Justice Mike Bolin
Adding to their ever-growing lists of complaints against Alabama Supreme Court justices, the Sanctity of Marriage Alabama (SOMA) filed an ethics complaint against Justice Michael “Mike” Bolin. SOMA, the same group that filed complaints against suspended Chief Justice Roy Moore and Acting Chief Justice Lyn Stuart, filed the complaint Monday with the Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission (JIC) saying Bolin blatantly disregarded the Canons of Judicial Ethics by failing to disqualify himself from proceedings in Moore’s case. The group also says all Alabama voters should write-in an honorable attorney instead of Bolin at the polls on Tuesday. “Justice Bolin has recently recused himself from Moore’s appeal,” said Tom Ford, spokesman for Sanctity of Marriage Alabama, “however, he failed to do so in May of 2016 where his impartiality was equally questionable. Why the attempt to save face now? No Alabamian can expect a fair trial at the Alabama Supreme Court with acting Chief Justice Lyn Stuart and Mike Bolin heading the group.” In March of 2016, Justice Bolin joined a portion of Justice Greg Shaw’s opinion condemning Chief Justice Moore’s stance in a gay marriage case, the group explains. Later that opinion was used by the JIC in an effort to oust Moore. “That opinion was used by the Judicial Inquiry Commission and radical leftists in their crusade to oust Chief Justice Moore,” according to SOMA’s press release. In May 2016, Justice Bolin failed to disqualify himself from the ethics proceedings against Moore, but in Sept. 2016 suddenly recused himself from hearing Moore’s appeal. “Perhaps to save face,” the group surmises. “Justice Bolin does not deserve the vote of the people of Alabama on Tuesday,” Ford continued. “Conservative voters have been betrayed ever since the day Justice Bolin gave Alabamians and conservatives the cold shoulder by joining the Southern Poverty Law Center in condemning Chief Justice Moore for legally defending the conservative platform. Love or hate Chief Justice Moore, all voters of all parties should be outraged by Justice Bolin’s unethical and political handling of the case.” Ford concluded, “As Justice Bolin is unchallenged on Tuesday, we urge all Alabamians to refuse to give Justice Bolin your vote and write-in an honorable Alabama attorney for Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Place No. 1.” Alabama Today’s efforts to reach Bolin for comment were unsuccessful.
Suspended chief justice Roy Moore gets additional time to respond
Suspended Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore has gotten additional time to respond to judicial ethics charges that could result in his ouster. Holly Meade, a spokeswoman for Moore’s attorney, says the Alabama Court of the Judiciary granted a 14-day extension of the deadline for him to file a response to the charges. Monday was the original deadline. The new deadline is June 20. Moore is charged with violating judicial ethics for issuing an administrative order that said Alabama laws against gay marriage remained in place months after the U.S. Supreme Court effectively legalized gay marriage nationwide. Moore is a conservative Christian Republican who opposes same-sex marriage. Moore has filed suit against the Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission, which investigated complaints against the judge and filed the charges. Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
