The CJP is the controversial state agency responsible for investigating complaints of judicial misconduct and for disciplining judges.
From the East Bay Times Report:
MARTINEZ — A Contra Costa judge with a history of ethics violations was charged with judicial misconduct that could warrant his removal from the bench, records obtained Tuesday show.
The two counts of misconduct include allegations that Judge Bruce C. Mills illegally doubled the sentence of a judicial rights advocate who Mills had found to be in contempt of court. Mills jailed the man for discussing his divorce online, a decision that First Amendment experts called, “outrageous” and a free speech violation.
Mills has an apparently unprecedented five prior misconduct actions against him, bringing his running total to seven separate offenses over 16 years. The first incident occurred in 2001 when Mills refused to appoint an attorney for a criminal defendant, and "made comments that disparaged the defendant's version of the case and fostered the appearance that the judge was attempting to pressure the defendant into pleading guilty," according to the CJP.
