Split Commission Censures 'Mean-Spirited' Judge

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A "mean-spirited" judge barely escaped removal Friday when a divided Commission on Judicial Conduct voted for censure. The commission members agreed that Saratoga Springs Judge Douglas C. Mills committed serious misconduct but split on the sanction. Three dissenters labeled the judge a "tyrant" and said he is "dangerous" to the public. Judge Mills was found guilty in two misconduct matters. One involved a college student arrested on an open container charge. At a bench trial, after finding the student not guilty, Judge Mills held him in contempt and sentenced him to six days in jail after he called the judge an "obnoxious old man." The next day, Judge Mills realized he had erred in finding the student guilty of criminal contempt without a trial. Instead of releasing the student, he dismissed the criminal contempt charge and replaced it with a Judiciary Law §750 contempt charge. The other matter arose out a marital spat that Judge Mills witnessed in the parking lot. A couple had come to court where their son was appearing on traffic matters. When Judge Mills saw the husband in his courtroom, he had him arrested for disorderly conduct and issued a temporary order of protection banning the man from his home. There had been no complaint by the wife. The majority on the commission, seven members, said Judge Mills' conduct constituted a "travesty of justice" but decided censure was the appropriate sanction. Three commissioners called for removal. - John Caher