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Source: Erie Times-News, Pa.迷你倉最平Oct. 31--Erie 3rd Ward District Judge Tom Carney is again facing the possibility of professional discipline for waving a loaded handgun during a dispute with another motorist on Interstate 79 in January 2009.In a ruling that could set precedent, the state Supreme Court on Wednesday reversed a May 2011 decision from the state Court of Judicial Discipline, which acquitted Carney of ethics charges that he brought his office into disrepute by displaying the gun.The Court of Judicial Discipline said the behavior did not rise to the level that would warrant discipline, which could include a private reprimand, a suspension or removal from his $86,639-a-year district judge post.Carney is facing all those sanctions because of the Supreme Court's ruling. The high court sent the case back to the Court of Judicial Discipline "to determine the appropriate sanction" for Carney's actions in the gun-waving incident, according to the 31-page unanimous decision, which Chief Justice Ronald Castille wrote.The Supreme Court agreed with the arguments of the state Judicial Conduct Board, which prosecuted Carney in the ethics case and appealed the Court of Judicial Discipline's acquittal to the Supreme Court."The board's observation that this sort of incident invites the view that judges appear to be above the law is especially apt here," Castille wrote. "People who brandish guns during road rage incidents should properly expect themselves to be viewed as exhibiting disreputable conduct."Carney, 59, pleaded guilty in November 2009 to two summary counts of disorderly conduct and paid a $541 fine over the gun incident, which occurred on I-79 in Mercer County the night of Jan. 11, 2009.Carney, whose office is at West 12th and Liberty streets and whose district covers Little Italy and surrounding neighborhoods, remained a magistrate during the criminal and迷你倉ethics cases. He was elected to a second consecutive six-year term in November 2011, when he ran unopposed.Carney declined to comment on the Supreme Court decision and referred questions to his lawyer, David Ridge.Ridge said he would review the ruling as he prepares for a yet-to-be-scheduled rehearing before the Court of Judicial Discipline, a proceeding akin to a sentencing hearing in a criminal case."Judge Carney has had an exemplary record of public service, and we will emphasize that," Ridge said.The court ruling could influence the law in Pennsylvania beyond Carney's case. In originally clearing Carney, the Court of Judicial Discipline cited guidance from the state Supreme Court, which had said a judicial officer's questionable conduct can warrant professional discipline only if the conduct involves judicial "decision-making duties."The Judicial Conduct Board asked the Supreme Court to revisit that finding in its appeal of the Carney case. The board's lawyers successfully argued that the statutes governing judicial conduct in Pennsylvania should be interpreted to extend to a wide range of conduct, including behavior outside the courtroom."We believe there is merit in the board's position," Castille wrote in the opinion. "A judicial office represents a public trust, and the conduct of a judicial officer may bear upon the independence and integrity of the judiciary regardless of whether the conduct implicates the decision-making process."One aspiring to, or holding, the office cannot reasonably expect to be rogue in his or her private life without thereby staining the integrity of the position."ED PALATTELLA can be reached at 870-1813 or by e-mail. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/ETNpalattella.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 the Erie Times-News (Erie, Pa.) Visit the Erie Times-News (Erie, Pa.) at .GoErie.com Distributed by MCT Information Services儲存

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