At the last hearing on transparency and ethics held by the New York state Senate a few weeks ago, several good government groups pointed to the Commission on Judicial Conduct as a possible model for other ethics agencies in the state, including the troubled Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE). 

So what makes the CJC different? 

“We are established in the state constitution, and purposely, as an independent agency, not under the control of any of the three branches of government,” CJC’s Administrator and Counsel Robert Tembeckjian told Capital Tonight.

Like its name suggests, the Commission on Judicial Conduct was created to review complaints of ethical misconduct against judges and justices. Its governance structure ensures that no one branch of government has more power over it than any other. 

“There are 11 Commission Members. Four are appointed by the Governor, three by the Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals, and one by each of the four leaders of the State Legislature," the commission's website says. "The Commission appoints a Clerk to provide it with independent advice, and an Administrator & Counsel who hires and supervises a Staff of attorneys, investigators and administrative personnel.”

“So no appointing authority has control over a majority of the members,” Tembeckjian explained. “The commission elects its own chair and it appoints its own chief executive officer.”

Tembeckjian, who is the CEO, doesn’t report to the governor, the chief judge or the Legislature. He reports to the commission. Commission members are on four-year terms, which are short enough to prevent the accretion of power.

“There is built-in independence from those who might exercise political influence,” he explained.

Another distinction of the CJC is that its website covers 40 years of operations, and includes over 900 disciplinary decisions against judges going back to 1978. This in in direct contrast to what the Albany Times Union has called JCOPE’s “culture of confidentiality."

“If a body is going to be imposing discipline, but does so in a way that the public doesn’t know it, doesn’t have a chance to access it, doesn’t make it available for other judges to be guided by it and to learn how to avoid ethical missteps, then even the most well-organized and well-meaning enforcement entity is not going to be effective,” said Tembeckjian. “If the public doesn’t see what you’re doing, it’s almost as if you’re not doing anything at all.”

New York state is at an inflection point when it comes to ethics. After Gov. Andrew Cuomo resigned in disgrace, new Gov. Kathy Hochul repeatedly promised that ethics would be front and center in her administration. Additionally, the leadership of both legislative houses have indicated they would support changes to the state’s watchdog agencies.