Boneheaded Judge Booted Off Bench After Jailing 46 People In Cell Phone Incident

In upstate New York, The Associated Press recently reported on an incident that occurred in the courtroom of now ex-Niagara Falls City Court Judge Robert Restaino:

• A judge who jailed 46 people who were in his courtroom when a cell phone call interrupted proceedings was removed from the bench [last month] by a state commission. [...] A phone rang while Restaino was hearing the cases of domestic violence offenders who had been ordered to appear weekly to update the judge on the progress of their counseling. A sign in the courthouse warns that cell phones and pagers must be turned off.

• "Everyone is going to jail," Restaino said. "Every single person is going to jail in this courtroom unless I get that instrument now. If anybody believes I'm kidding, ask some of the folks that have been here for a while. You are all going." When no one came forward, Restaino ordered the group into custody, and they were taken to jail, where they were searched and packed into crowded cells. Fourteen people who could not post bail were shackled and bused to another jail.

For more, see Judge Removed Over Cell Phone Jailing (NY Judge Bounced From Bench for Jailing 46 People Over Ringing Cell Phone).

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