New York Judge Removed from Bench After Assaulting Officer

A New York judge embroiled in a phys­i­cal alter­ca­tion with a police offi­cer and neigh­bors over a park­ing spot has been replaced on the state Supreme Court bench.

Buf­fa­lo Judge Mark Grisan­ti was involved in the June 2020 inci­dent, which was cap­tured on body cam­era footage. The video shows Grisan­ti, shirt­less, shov­ing an offi­cer and mak­ing claims of polit­i­cal con­nec­tions. His wife also resist­ed arrest.

Fol­low­ing the inci­dent, Grisan­ti was cen­sured by the New York State Com­mis­sion on Judi­cial Con­duct for his “poor judg­ment.” How­ev­er, they opt­ed not to rec­om­mend removal from office.

Gov­er­nor Kathy Hochul recent­ly bypassed Grisan­ti for reap­point­ment, send­ing a list of 25 new judi­cial nom­i­nees to the state Sen­ate for consideration.

This deci­sion under­scores the impor­tance of judi­cial impar­tial­i­ty and pro­fes­sion­al­ism. Judges are held to the high­est stan­dards of con­duct, and Grisan­ti’s case high­lights the need for judi­cial account­abil­i­ty.

By remov­ing Grisan­ti, New York affirms its com­mit­ment to a fair and effec­tive court sys­tem. This action sends a strong mes­sage that unbe­com­ing behav­ior from judi­cial offi­cers will not be tolerated.