Conduct Commission Probes New Charges Against (Miami-Dade Rioter) Spargo

[djg21]

From the

Justice Allegedly Solicited Defense Funds From Lawyers in His Court

By John Caher
New York Law Journal
Thursday, January 8, 2004


ALBANY — Albany Supreme Court Justice Thomas J. Spargo, whose battle over disciplinary charges last year made national news, is now under investigation by the Commission on Judicial Conduct for allegedly soliciting donations from attorneys appearing in his court to cover the cost of his legal defense.

Sources close to the investigation confirmed that at least three attorneys in Ulster County have given statements to the commission and that the judge has disqualified himself from cases involving those lawyers and others who attended an event last month hosted or organized by Justice Spargo.

. . . .

A former Republican political consultant and elections lawyer who continued to serve in those roles while simultaneously holding down a part-time job as a town judge, Justice Spargo convinced a federal district judge that bedrock portions of the Code of Judicial Conduct are unconstitutional. In December, however, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit said the federal court wrongly intruded on what should be a state court action.

. . . .

Justice Spargo is accused of inappropriately taking part in a boisterous political demonstration as a consultant to the Bush/Cheney ticket during the 2000 Florida recount when he was a part-time judge in the town of Berne. He is also accused of accepting as a client in a disputed election the Albany County district attorney-elect even though that office regularly appeared before him in criminal court; improperly speaking at a Conservative Party fund-raiser; wrongly giving out cider, doughnuts and coupons for gasoline to potential voters while running for Supreme Court; and paying $5,000 each to two political operatives who helped ensure that he would run unopposed. One of them was a woman who was given $5,000 on the same day that she nominated Justice Spargo for the Democratic ticket. Justice Spargo was endorsed by the Democratic Party, ran without opposition and was elected to a 14-year term.

[punpirate]

1. "Scruples? Scruples? We don' need no...

... stinkin' scruples. We're Republicans...."

Next thing you know, Bush will be nominating this bozo for federal appeals court.

[truthspeaker]

2. and complaining about liberal bias when the Senate tries to block it (eom)

[el_gato]

3. i'm trying to find that picture

that shows their little riot along with the listing of who is who

does anybody know where it is?

[soup]

6. see my post below. don't see his name on the list, though. n/t

[NashVegas]

4. Scott Ritter Has Gotta Be Loving This

Of course, the most curious thing of all is who the judge in Ritter's case in 2001 was -- his judge was a fellow named Thomas J. Spargo. Spargo is not exactly a household name but, if you recall from a couple of years back, he's a well-known Republican lawyer and activist who played a role in the mob demonstration that shut down the vote-counting in Miami during the recount battle of 2000. In fact, I recall it was quite controversial that he took part in this disgraceful demonstration since he was serving as a judge at the same time in New York. Anyway, Spargo is the judge who put the seal on Ritter's record in 2001 and, presumably, was in charge of making sure that none of this information was made public.

http://hnn.us/articles/1213.html

[soup]

5. This guy is some piece of work.

>Justice Spargo is accused of inappropriately taking part in a boisterous political demonstration as a consultant to the Bush/Cheney ticket during the 2000 Florida recount when he was a part-time judge in the town of Berne.<

Looked for his name here, but don't see it. Must have been a different boisterous demonstration.

(The photo won't copy, but here's the source - )

Republican demonstrators at the Miami-Dade County polling headquarters