Rusty Hicks is threatening to sue over an attack ad

Times Standard coverage.

What’s funny is that the ad, I assume it’s the ad, pops up on the article itself. Unfortunately, I’ve used up all of my free articles for the month so I can’t read it.

The Press Democrat weighs in on the Commission on Judicial Performance allegations

A very thorough article which repeats some of what we know, but the reporter also obtained statements from the Commission chair, April Van Dyke, an expert on the Commission process, and some others.

Some key passages:

His opponent in the race, April Van Dyke, told The Press Democrat she decided to run in part “from my observations of my opponent in court, engaging in conduct that I consider very questionable.” She described what she’d seen of Kreis in the courtroom as “suboptimal behavior,” that included threatening to report attorneys to the bar.

But, she said, “clearly, I didn’t know the extent of what the complaint alleges.”

……

Gregory Dresser, the commission’s director and chief counsel, told The Press Democrat the timing of the report had nothing to do with the election.

“The commission is agnostic about whether there is or is not an election,” he said. “Once a case has been fully investigated and is ready for charges, that’s when we charge it.“

……

“There aren’t that many cases that are quite like this, frankly,” said Jeremy Fogel, a former state and federal judge who now serves as the executive director of the UC Berkeley Judicial Institute. “If they prove most of this stuff, or even a significant amount of it, I would suspect that they’re going to recommend removal. It’s hard to see how they wouldn’t.”

While qualifying that the allegations have yet to be proven, Fogel, an expert in judicial ethics who has worked with the California commission, said the charging document stands out from others.

“It’s notable in the number of allegations, the detail of the allegations and just the scope of the conduct. I have not, in my experience, seen very many formal proceedings where the charges are as numerous as they are here and the detail that’s provided in the notice of formal proceedings is as granular as it is.”

……

However, Paul Gallegos still does support Judge Kreis and explains why in a letter to the Times Standard.