Keller @ Large: The Case Of Judge 'Let Me Go'

BOSTON (CBS) - One of the most important stories unfolding in our community right now is the case of Boston Municipal Court Judge Raymond Dougan – courthouse nickname: "Judge Let-Me-Go" – who is appealing a subpoena from the Commission on Judicial Conduct charged with reviewing claims of judicial misconduct.

Listen to Jon's commentary:

The Suffolk County D.A., in a very rare move, has filed such a complaint, claiming the judge has a habit of egregious bias in favor of criminal defendants, including, to quote Globe columnist Larry Harmon, "credible" charges of "unlawfully vacating guilty pleas, frivolously suppressing drug evidence, scrapping police testimony for no good reason, and generally ignoring Massachusetts laws as long as the outcomes favor defendants."

But while the judicial conduct commission is an arm of the judiciary, not a prosecutorial agency, the judge doesn't want to turn over his case notes on the disputed cases on the grounds that this request is too intrusive. And his allies on the bench and in the defense bar are rallying around him, claiming the probe is a dangerous overreach.

I agree with yesterday's Globe editorial, which notes that judges face little public accountability beyond commission review.

As the paper puts it: "It hardly seems outrageous or chilling to ask a judge to justify his or her decisions in a confidential session before the commission."

But the backlash isn't surprising.

Some judges and lawyers seem to have forgotten that their oath of office promises to pursue justice, not subvert it as part of a defense-lawyer chess game or circle the wagons around their judicial prerogatives.

The judicial conduct commission is not known for knee-jerk decisions.

If they can't properly probe this judge's questionable behavior, then we truly have created a ruling class in the courtroom that is above the law.

And judging from the whining we hear whenever the bench or the defense bar are challenged, that's the way they want to keep it.

You can listen to Keller At Large on WBZ News Radio every weekday at 7:55 a.m. and 12:25 p.m. You can also watch Jon on WBZ-TV News.