An ethics committee has recommended a three-month, unpaid suspension for a New Jersey judge who told a sexual assault victim to 'close your legs'.
The committee released its recommendation to the state Supreme Court on Wednesday in the case of Superior Court Judge John Russo, who sits on the bench in Ocean County in southern New Jersey.
Their recommendation comes just weeks after one of Russo's former law clerks accused him of sexual harassment.
The sexual assault victim appeared before Russo in May 2016 to seek a restraining order against her attacker.
When the woman described her encounter with the man, Russo asked her: 'Do you know how to stop somebody from having intercourse with you?'
'To run away or try to get away,' the woman responded, according to the transcript.
'Run away, get away. Anything else?' Russo asked.
'I - that's all I know,' the woman replied.
'Block your body parts? Close your legs? Call the police?' Russo pressed. 'Did you do any of those things?'
The ethics committee found that Russo's conduct toward the woman demonstrated 'an emotional immaturity wholly unbefitting the judicial office and incompatible with the decorum expected of every jurist'.
Russo's conduct 'was not only discourteous and inappropriate, but also egregious given the potential for those questions to re-victimize the plaintiff,' the panel wrote.
Five members of the nine-member review panel recommended a three-month suspension for Russo, while four recommended that he be suspended for six months due to the 'severity of this misconduct,' according to
NJ.com.
In addition to the suspension, the panel recommended that Russo be required to attend training on 'appropriate courtroom demeanor.' The Supreme Court will make a final ruling on July 9.
The ethics review panel also concluded that Russo violated rules of conduct on other occasions, including when he ruled on an alimony case in which he acknowledged he knew both parties.
In that case, according to the complaint, Russo reversed an order by another judge who had issued a bench warrant for the man unless he paid $10,000 in back alimony. Russo ultimately reduced that to $300.
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