Judge Perez
A hearing panel for the Board of Judicial Standards has recommended that Tax Court Judge George Perez be censured and suspended without pay for nine months for infractions of Minn. Stat. 271.20, requiring that cases be decided within three months of submission. The panel also recommended that he be barred from ever serving again as chief judge, that he limit his participation in bar association activities and that he regularly report the status of his outstanding decisions to the chief judge of the tax court.
Doug Kelley, one of the attorneys for the Board on Judicial Standards, told Minnesota Lawyer that the matter will go to the Supreme Court because the hearing panel is only authorized to issue reprimands, and anything in excess must be approved by the court.
UPDATE:
It is quite clear that the panel got it right on the allegations that Perez shirked cases, made misrepresentations to the board and misused vacation and sick time, said Perez’ attorney, Fred Finch. Perez did not contest that some of the opinions went past the three-month deadline, he added. “We seriously disagree about the sanctions, and they provide no basis for the recommendation about never serving as chief judge and not going to professional conferences. That might not even be constitutional,” Finch said.
The sanctions are too severe and are in excess of what other courts have done and what the Minnesota Supreme Court has done with similar cases, Finch said.
Source: http://minnlawyer.com/minnlawyerblog/2013/05/13/panel-recommends-censure-suspension-for-perez/
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