- Massachusetts Commission on Judicial Conduct
Media Contact for Massachusetts Commission on Judicial Conduct publishes Annual Report covering 2020 activities
Howard Neff, Executive Director
Boston, MA — On December 15, 2021, the Commission on Judicial Conduct’s Executive Director, Howard V. Neff, III, published the Commission’s 2020 Annual Report, covering its activities from January 1, 2020 through December 31, 2020.
The Commission reports that 449 complaints were filed with the Commission in 2020, and out of those complaints, fifty were docketed for investigation or Commission Screening. For a complaint to be docketed for investigation or Commission Screening, it must allege specific facts that, if true, would constitute judicial misconduct or disability.
For complaints docketed for Commission Screening, including stale complaints and anonymous complaints, the Commission must determine whether the complaint meets the necessary threshold to be investigated. In 2020, the Commission dismissed six complaints after Commission Screening and thirty-three complaints after investigation (including two complaints dismissed with an expression of concern to the judge).
Of the complaints received in 2020, 253 were submitted through the Commission’s online complaint form, which first became available on July 22, 2015.
The Commission considered ninety-four complaints in 2020, filed both in 2020 and prior years, and disposed of forty-two of them in 2020. Of the ninety-four complaints considered by the Commission in 2020, forty-one of them were dismissed upon the Commission’s finding of no misconduct. Three complaints that were subject to an Informal Adjustment/Agreed Disposition were actively monitored by the Commission in 2020 and one of those complaints was successfully closed.
The Annual Report includes statistics for the year 2020; overall statistics dating back to the year 2016; a copy of the Commission’s enabling statute; a copy of its Rules; and a copy of the Code of Judicial Conduct, which became effective on January 1, 2016.
The Commission’s statute and rules, and a copy of the 2020 Annual Report are available on the Commission’s website at: www.mass.gov/cjc.
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