EXCLUSIVE: Judiciary’s Secret Meetings to Discipline Judges

EXCLUSIVE: Judiciary’s Secret Meetings to Discipline Judges

For years, the Rhode Island Commission on Judicial Tenure and Discipline has failed to notify the public of meetings, a GoLocal investigation has found.

The Commission neither posts meeting notices nor has publicly published minutes of the meetings reviewable by the public.

The record of members' attendance is secret.

GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST

And, the dates of the meetings are secret.

The Commission Reviews Complaints Against Judges

“The Commission on Judicial Tenure and Discipline was created in 1974 to provide a forum for complaints against any judge or magistrate of the Supreme, Superior, Family, District, and Workers’ Compensation Courts, or the Rhode Island Traffic Tribunal,” states the Court.

“The Commission reviews allegations of serious violations of the Code of Judicial Conduct, including willful and persistent failure to perform judicial duties; disabling addiction to alcohol, drugs, or narcotics; conduct that brings the judicial office into serious disrepute; or a physical or a mental disability that seriously interferes with, and will continue to interfere with, the performance of judicial duties,” according to the Court's website.

By statute, the Commission is allowed to meet in closed session to consider a complaint against a member of the judiciary. At the time in which there is a finding of probable cause, the meetings are public.

“The Commission handles confidential complaints and the only provision for public meetings is in accordance with complaints that are preliminarily investigated and which are found to be supported by substantial evidence (and then Kriss cited the RI General Law),” wrote Alexandra Kriss in an email to GoLocal. She is the Assistant State Court Administrator for Community Outreach & Public Relations for the state courts.

But the entire process bars the public from knowing the most basic elements of the Commission's activities.

“We recognize and appreciate the large measure of confidentiality that state law bestows on the commission in doing its sensitive work. But while most of its business can and should be conducted behind closed doors, the public should at least be made aware of when the commission meets through public posting of its meeting notices,” said Steven Brown, Executive Director of the ACLU of Rhode Island.

 

Last Public Hearing Was Nearly 10 Years Ago

“The last Public Hearing was held in 2017 for Judge [Rafael] Ovalles,” wrote Kriss.

Charges against Ovalles were first reported by the media in 2015.

Rafael A. Ovalles, Rhode Island's first Hispanic judge and a member of the state District Court, faced a long disciplinary process. That legal process, including his defense, was paid for by Rhode Island taxpayers.  Ovalles’ legal team included  former Providence Mayor Angel Taveras, who is his nephew, and former House Speaker William Murphy.

Ultimately, Ovalles faced 41 charges from the Commission, and he resigned his judgeship. Today, he is a practicing attorney.

 

Online, No Notice

In fact, in recent years, many of the meetings have been held online, again with no public notice or participation, GoLocal has learned.

How far back has this failure to provide public notice go, the Court refuses to answer questions.

“The Open Meetings Act requirement that public bodies post notices of their meetings serves an important purpose and helps to promote transparency. An appearance of absolute secrecy - failing to disclose even the fact that meetings are occurring — can have the effect of undermining confidence in the commission's important work,” said Brown.

"Other public bodies must post notices of planned executive sessions, and they do so routinely without incident. The commission should be doing so as well," said Brown. "We do not believe this conflicts in any way with the confidentiality safeguards that the OMA and the commission statute contain.  But even if the commission believes it is completely exempt from the OMA, taking the step of posting meeting notices simply represents good public policy."