In re Henderson, 371 N.C. 45

Summary

The Supreme Court of North Carolina reviewed a Judicial Standards Commission recommendation concerning District Court Judge Gary L. Henderson. The Court adopted the Commission’s findings that Henderson unreasonably delayed issuing an attorney-fees ruling and failed to respond timely to related inquiries, concluding that this conduct violated specified Canons of the North Carolina Code of Judicial Conduct and constituted conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice. The Court publicly reprimanded Henderson.

Holdings

1. In a judicial discipline proceeding, the Supreme Court acts as a court of original jurisdiction, independently evaluates the evidence, and may adopt the Commission's findings when they are supported by clear, cogent, and convincing evidence; it must then determine whether those findings support the Commission's conclusions of law.
2. Henderson's unjustified failure to issue a ruling for more than two years and three months, together with his failures to respond promptly to inquiries, violated Canons 1, 2A, 3A(3), 3A(5), and 3B(1) of the North Carolina Code of Judicial Conduct and constituted conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice that brought the judicial office into disrepute in violation of N.C.G.S. § 7A-376(b).
3. A public reprimand was the appropriate discipline for Henderson's violations.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the Judicial Standards Commission's findings of fact were supported by clear, cogent, and convincing evidence.
2. Whether the Commission's findings supported its conclusions that Henderson violated Canons 1, 2A, 3A(3) and (5), and 3B(1) of the North Carolina Code of Judicial Conduct and engaged in conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice under N.C.G.S. § 7A-376(b).
3. Whether Henderson should be publicly reprimanded.

Disposition

other