Examining judicial conduct in Massachusetts: Key insights from the Commission's 2022 Report

On Friday, June 9, 2023, the Massachusetts Commission on Judicial Conduct released its annual report for 2022. The report details the Commission’s activities spanning from January 1, 2022, to December 31, 2022.

The Massachusetts Commission on Judicial Conduct (CJC) is tasked with looking into complaints involving claims of judicial misconduct or impairments that prevent state court judges from effectively carrying out their judicial duties. The CJC must also take the proper action, including disciplinary measures if necessary, to address and resolve problems involving state court judges.

According to the report, the Commission received 757 complaints in 2022. Sixty-one of these complaints were chosen for examination or commission screening. A complaint must include specific allegations that, if true, would qualify as instances of judicial misconduct or disability in order to be subject to investigation or Commission Screening.

The Commission is responsible for assessing whether complaints, including those that undergo Commission Screening such as stale and anonymous complaints, fulfill the necessary criteria to proceed with an investigation. In 2022, the Commission dismissed six complaints after they underwent Commission Screening. Subsequently, during the course of investigations, the Commission dismissed an additional 61 complaints, which included nine cases where an expression of concern was addressed to the respective judge.

The online complaint form for the Commission was first made available on July 22, 2015, and out of all the complaints that were received in 2022, a total of 535 were sent through it.

The Commission looked over 116 complaints in total in 2022, including those that were submitted in 2022 and earlier. Ninety-nine of these complaints were resolved by the Commission throughout the year. There were still 17 complaints pending as of the end of 2022, consisting of two Rule 13 Submissions, one Informal Adjustment, and fourteen ongoing investigations. Sixty-seven of the 97 complaints that were resolved in 2022 were rejected by the Commission. In addition, the Supreme Judicial Court dealt with and adjudicated 32 complaints in the same year.