Lest Ye Be Judged

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court censured and suspended a probate judge

In March 2024, the Committee on Judicial Conduct filed a report with us alleging that Hancock County Probate Judge William B. Blaisdell IV committed three violations of the Code of Judicial Conduct. Specifically, the Committee alleged that Judge Blaisdell

(1) violated Rule 1.1 of the Code by failing to file federal and state income tax returns for the years 2020, 2021, and 2022; failing to pay court-ordered child support and attorney fees; and acting in contempt of the District Court in a family matter in which he was a party;

(2) violated Rule 2.16(A) of the Code by failing to respond to the Committee on Judicial Conduct despite repeated requests that he do so; and

(3) violated Rule 2.16(A) of the Code by acting with a lack of candor in asserting that he never received letters from the Committee.

Judge Blaisdell concedes that his conduct violated the rules, as the Committee alleged. The question before us is what sanctions to impose on Judge Blaisdell. We heard oral argument from the parties and have considered the record and the parties’ submissions. We now censure Judge Blaisdell; suspend him as a judge for a term of one year, with all but four months of the suspension suspended, provided that Judge Blaisdell satisfies the conditions set forth below; and order that he forfeit $10,000 from the salary otherwise payable to him, representing four months of salary for the period when Judge Blaisdell will not be serving as a probate judge.

Position of the parties

The Committee urges us to refer this matter to the Legislature for possible removal of Judge Blaisdell from office. Judge Blaisdell counters that we should order an entirely suspended suspension with conditions similar to those that have now been imposed upon him in a parallel bar disciplinary matter.

The court noted the problem of decreasing public confidence in the judiciary

We view Judge Blaisdell’s misconduct as egregious and deserving of significant sanction. Disobedience of a court order by anyone is serious, but contempt of a court order by a sitting judge cannot be tolerated. We cannot expect the public to have respect and confidence in our courts when a judge himself flouts court orders.

Sanction

Having all of these principles in mind, we conclude that the sanction must include public censure, which is accomplished by publication of this opinion, in the same manner as an opinion of this Court sitting as the Law Court. We also conclude that it is appropriate to impose a disciplinary suspension from judicial office for one year. We understand that the suspension of the only probate judge in Hancock County imposes a hardship on the people of that county as well as other probate courts. A partially suspended suspension would ameliorate that harm and provide a means of monitoring Judge Blaisdell’s conduct. For those reasons, we suspend all but four months of the one-year suspension, provided that Judge Blaisdell complies with the conditions imposed in his bar disciplinary matter. Finally, to emphasize the gravity of the misconduct, we order him to forfeit the amount of $10,000 from the salary otherwise payable to him. This amount represents the equivalent of four months of Judge Blaisdell’s judicial salary for the period during which he will be fully suspended from his judicial office.

(Mike Frisch)