Editorial: Tranquilli deserves judicious hearing

There are several things that a judge is supposed to be.

Fair and patient. Respectful and understanding. Measured and firm. Judicious.

We need the people who evaluate the law to do it without preconception or prejudice.

It should definitely be without bias, racism and harassment. Sadly, those are the qualities the Pennsylvania Judicial Conduct Board has identified in the behavior of Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Mark V. Tranquilli.

On Wednesday, the JCB referred charges against Tranquilli to the Court of Judicial Discipline with a recommendation for suspension.

The board’s referral comes six months after allegations rose about actions that Tranquilli took in his courtroom and his chambers that could call into question so many of the rulings and decisions that occurred there.

They have ranged from referring to a Black juror as “Aunt Jemima” after becoming upset by a not-guilty verdict to telling a man at sentencing that he would be “cast … down among the Sodomites … in state prison.” During a custody hearing, he told the parents “he would ‘split (the couple’s) baby in half like Solomon and sleep like a baby that night.’”

The JCB rightly called these actions and more out as “manifested bias, prejudice” and harassment. The board was not wrong in saying the judge did not conduct himself with the dignity the office demands.

They also are right to turn it over to the Court of Judicial Discipline to decide what happens next.

A judge is not an employee to be fired. Elected to 10-year terms, a judge in Pennsylvania is a very secure position. They are not reelected. Voters are asked instead whether they want a judge to be retained. Usually that’s a yes. Tranquilli’s first retention vote would not come until 2023.

The board will have to prove the charges to the court, just like someone who was up on charges before Tranquilli.

The judge would no doubt prefer that the members of the court look at him fairly and patiently. They should weigh the case made against him with respect and understanding. They should approach the case with both cautious measure and firmness.

In short, they should be judicious — a word that literally means “like a judge.”

And just like any of the people who may have found themselves in Tranquilli’s court room — nervous about what would happen and overwhelmed by the possibilities — the judge deserves that reassurance that he will be judged only by the law and his own actions.

So do the people of Allegheny County. Removing a judge should not be easy. It should, however, be possible if one is proven to have contempt for those in his court.