|
KINGSTON---An admitted alcoholic judge who dropped a bid for the state Supreme Court in the fall of 2004 after conducting court while drunk has been censured by the state Commission on Judicial Conduct.
James. P. Gilpatric, a part-time Kingston city court judge and Democratic nominee for the state Supreme Court, was removed from the bench in September, 2004 after court officers noticed him behaving erratically and fellow judge Edward T. Feeney smelling alcohol on Gilpatric's breath.
A censure is little more than a slap on the wrist and a public reprimand for the judge.
In the determination released Dec. 29, the commission said that Gilpatric had stipulated he is an alcoholic who had been alcohol-free for more than a decade prior to his relapse on Sept. 1, 2004. On that morning, while under the influence of alcohol, he appeared in court as an attorney. That same date he later appeared in court as a judge, took the bench but was unable to preside and was relieved of his duties. Thereafter, he entered a 21-day residential treatment program and he claims he has abstained from alcohol since that time.
"Litigants and the public can have little faith in the decisions and judgment of a judge who appears in court while under the influence of alcohol", the commission wrote in is 7-2 decision. The commission noted the judge's "stringent" rehabilitative efforts and indicated that his future court appearances would be monitored periodically.
Gilpatric has been a city court judge since 1994.
Commission vice chairman Alan Pope, an attorney; and commission member Thomas Klonick, a judge, disagreed with publicly sanctioning Gilpatric "because he suffers from an illness". They felt that a confidential letter of caution should have been issued. 12-30-05
© 2005 North
Country Gazette
|
