EDITORIALS

Geaux, Judge, Geaux!

A judge who shouldn’t be one

WE LOSE count of the complaints that have been filed about His “Honor” Mike Maggio before the state’s judicial commission, for they pile up at such a rate. But the latest one notes a curious coincidence:

On the same day that the judge began hearing arguments in favor of reducing a $5.2-million fine levied against a nursing home, the owner of said nursing home (and a whole chain of others) began giving donations to at least six PACs (Political Action Committees) that surely would have done all they could to further His Honor’s political aspirations.

It doesn’t take a Sherlock Holmes to note the coincidence, just a calendar. Three days later, Judge Maggio would reduce that $5.2-million judgment against the nursing home to an even $1 million.

Earlier in the judge’s maculate career there was the not so little matter of his comments under a nom de blog, geauxjudge, on an LSU fan website devoted to subjects like race and sex. His Honor’s extra-judicial judgments in that little forum were various, covering subjects as wide-ranging as women, divorce. homosexuality, incest, bestiality and a supposedly confidential adoption case. But his views were uniform in their vulgarity. And impropriety. In a word, they were disgusting. Like so much of his record.

IN THE meantime, before the state’s Judicial and Disability Commission has had time to deal definitively with The Hon. Mike Maggio, the state’s Supreme Court has done what it could to keep his wayward ways in check and protect all the parties in his court. This week the state’s highest court moved to reassign all the cases in his jurisdiction-the Second Division of the 20th Judicial District. And well it should have.

The high court’s unanimous order, signed by Chief Justice Jim Hannah, erred, if at all, on the side of understatement when it noted that the operations of Judge Maggio’s court in Conway “have been disrupted, and that the orderly administration of justice has been severely compromised.” Not to mention the reputation of the state’s judiciary and the good name of Arkansas itself. And maybe LSU’s, too, considering the stuff he’s put on one of its websites.

With his docket now cleared, maybe His Honor the Smuthead can spend his time watching TV, where there’s an abundance of this kind of vulgarity to observe if you have a strong enough stomach and can make sure any little kids are out of the room.

Another arm of the state, the Arkansas Ethics Commission, has warned and fined Judge Maggio before, in 2010, for treating campaign funds as personal income and failing to report how it was spent back in the 2008 election. The commission’s Public Letter of Warning to Judge Maggio came with a $500 fine attached. It was meant, the commission informed the judge, to be “condemnatory in nature” and to express “strong disapproval of your misconduct.” The commission concluded that such “misconduct serves to undermine public confidence in the integrity of the governmental process.” And how.

In short, Judge Maggio had disgraced himself and the state’s bench even before his latest misadventures, but was given more than fair warning on that occasion. And now, sure enough, he winds up in trouble again. This judge just may not be educable, which is another reason he shouldn’t be a judge any longer.

The Hon. Mike Maggio-a title that’s an exercise in irony more than a noun of address-seems to have forgotten, with apologies to Gertrude Stein, that a judge is a judge is a judge. Whether on or off the bench at the time. And that his conduct reflects not only on his little self but on the state’s whole judiciary.

What should be done with Mike Maggio formally and legally can be safely left to the state’s Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission for now. Lord knows that commission has no shortage of work before it. But in our strictly extra-judicial editorial opinion, Judge Maggie’s conduct smells. Again. Did the man’s character and ethics just take a leave of absence, or what?

THERE’S a reason only judges, military officers, and medical doctors should be addressed by their title even after they’ve left active duty: It’s not just for the courtesy of the thing, but because they remain on call as judges, commissioned officers, and M.D.s even after they’ve retired or are no longer on active duty.

Unfortunately, Americans have developed the noxious habit of addressing ex-officeholders, from presidents to precinct captains, by their old titles. And it’s a habit we need to break. But judges, generals and M.D.s retain their honorifics. For good reason. They’ve taken a lifetime oath, and it’s not one limited to office hours.

This judge has proven a disgrace while still serving. He even had the nerve to announce his candidacy for the state’s Court of Appeals at one point-a decision he now has prudently reversed. And not a moment too soon. But he’s still on the bench, at least nominally and certainly unfortunately. He wouldn’t be if he had a shred of decency or shame. The “Honorable” Mike Maggio needs to announce his resignation and hang up his robe. Geaux, judge, geaux! And we mean Go! NOW.

Editorial, Pages 14 on 03/27/2014

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