Judicial Misconduct – Commissioner Misconduct

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WI Supreme Court

Case Name: Wisconsin Judicial Commission v. The Honorable Frank M. Calvert

Case No.: 2018 WI 68

Focus: Judicial Misconduct – Commissioner Misconduct

We review, pursuant to Wis. Stat. § 757.91 (2015-16), a Judicial Conduct Panel’s findings of fact, conclusions of law, and recommendation for discipline for the Honorable Frank M. Calvert, a court commissioner for the Oconto County Circuit Court. We conclude that a 15-day suspension is the appropriate discipline for Commissioner Calvert’s judicial misconduct.

Commissioner Calvert has been a circuit court commissioner for Oconto County for 19 years. He has not been the subject of any prior disciplinary action by the Wisconsin Judicial Commission. The Judicial Commission filed a complaint against Commissioner Calvert on September 8, 2017, alleging that he had engaged in judicial misconduct by his actions, described below, in presiding over an action seeking a harassment injunction. The Judicial Commission filed a complaint against Commissioner Calvert on September 8, 2017, alleging that he had engaged in judicial misconduct by his actions, described below, in presiding over an action seeking a harassment injunction.

Commissioner Calvert did not file an answer to the complaint, which led the Judicial Commission to file a motion for default judgment. On January 2, 2018, Commissioner Calvert filed a letter with this court stating that he did not contest the facts alleged in the complaint. Consistent with an order issued by the Judicial Conduct Panel, the parties filed briefs on the issue of the appropriate discipline to be imposed. After receiving these briefs, the Judicial Conduct Panel made findings of fact based on the uncontested allegations of the complaint. On the basis of those facts, the Judicial Conduct Panel made conclusions of law and recommended that this court suspend Commissioner Calvert for no fewer than five and no more than 15 days. This recommendation exceeded the disciplinary sanction that Commissioner Calvert suggested in his brief to the panel and in his January 2, 2018 letter to the court: a reprimand. The panel’s recommendation more closely followed the sanction proposed by the Judicial Commission, which suggested discipline ranging from a reprimand to a short suspension.

IT IS ORDERED that the Honorable Frank M. Calvert is suspended from the office of circuit court commissioner without compensation and prohibited from exercising any of the powers or duties of a circuit court commissioner in Wisconsin for a period of 15 days, commencing July 16, 2018.

Ordered

Concur:

Dissent:

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.