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Kor37

Judge Removed Over Cell Phone Jailing

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Judge Removed Over Cell Phone Jailing

AP

Posted: 2007-11-27 23:22:30

NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. (AP) - A judge who jailed 46 people who were in his courtroom when a cell phone call interrupted proceedings was removed from the bench Tuesday by a state commission.

 

Niagara Falls City Court Judge Robert Restaino "snapped" and "engaged in what can only be described as two hours of inexplicable madness" during the March 2005 session, Raoul Felder, chairman of the state Commission on Judicial Conduct, wrote in the decision to remove Restaino from the $113,900-per-year post.

 

A phone rang while Restaino was hearing the cases of domestic violence offenders who had been ordered to appear weekly to update the judge on the progress of their counseling. A sign in the courthouse warns that cell phones and pagers must be turned off.

 

"Everyone is going to jail," Restaino said. "Every single person is going to jail in this courtroom unless I get that instrument now. If anybody believes I'm kidding, ask some of the folks that have been here for a while. You are all going."

 

When no one came forward, Restaino ordered the group into custody, and they were taken to jail, where they were searched and packed into crowded cells. Fourteen people who could not post bail were shackled and bused to another jail.

 

Restaino ordered them released later that afternoon.

 

Restaino told the state panel he had been under stress in his personal life.

 

His attorney, Terrence Connors, said Restaino would appeal.

 

 

They should have had one of those cell phone jammers. The there wouldn't have been a problem in the first place!

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They should have had one of those cell phone jammers. The there wouldn't have been a problem in the first place!

Yeah, I guess if there was a use for one of those jammers that would be it.

 

But come on! A whole courtroom jailed for one person's act of stupidity? That's not what justice is about. If his personal life is really causing that much stress he shouldn't be on the bench anyway.

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They should have had one of those cell phone jammers. The there wouldn't have been a problem in the first place!

Yeah, I guess if there was a use for one of those jammers that would be it.

 

But come on! A whole courtroom jailed for one person's act of stupidity? That's not what justice is about. If his personal life is really causing that much stress he shouldn't be on the bench anyway.

Well, according to the article, he was removed.

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Well, according to the article, he was removed.

 

My point is that is a really bad legal argument for him to use. If anything being that stressed out is reason to remove him, not keep him on. I would expect the state panel to use his stress level against him, not the other way around. It's like saying "That pot can't possibly be mine. I'm a crackhead, not a pothead."

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