Judge's Affair with Courtroom Clerk Didn't Violate Ethics Rules
A North Carolina judge has admitted to and apologized for an affair with a clerk in his courtroom that he said ended approximately a year ago.
But the consensual relationship involving Rowan County District Judge Kevin Eddinger, 55, did not warrant any recommendation of discipline, concluded the North Carolina Judicial Standards Commission, according to a letter he received last year and made public this month. Like Eddinger, who self-reported the relationship to the commission after it became fodder for courthouse gossip, the commission apparently considered it a personal matter, reports the Salisbury Post.
Chief District Court Judge Charlie Brown said he verified that Eddinger didn’t preside over any cases involving the court clerk or her family members and has arranged the schedule so that she no longer works in his courtroom.
Eddinger made headlines a little over two years ago when he held a lawyer in contempt and fined him $300 for reading a copy of Maxim in court that featured a scantily clad Heidi Montag on the cover.
