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4w ago

Hearing Officer Recommends Public Reprimand for Massachusetts Judge in 2018 Newton ICE Case

The report finds she did not authorize an escape plan, with the recommendation now before the state judicial conduct commission.

District court judge Shelley M. Richmond Joseph departs federal court on April 25, 2019, in Boston.
Boston, MA -Judge Shelley Joseph at her hearing at Suffolk County Court in June. (Nancy Lane/Boston Herald)
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Overview

  • An Oct. 31, 117-page report publicly released this week recommends a public reprimand of Judge Shelley M. Richmond Joseph for creating an appearance of impropriety in a 2018 courtroom episode.
  • The hearing officer concluded the record does not support findings of intentional misconduct, including authorizing a plan to help the defendant evade Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
  • The recommended reprimand stems from Joseph’s communications at arraignment and an off-the-record sidebar that violated court rules, not from knowingly aiding an escape.
  • No monitoring or assessment of investigative costs is recommended, and Joseph continues serving on the bench.
  • Federal obstruction charges filed in 2019 were dropped in 2022 under an agreement referring the matter to the state Commission on Judicial Conduct, which can now act and may send any discipline to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.