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Calif. Judge Removed Over Sentencing Issues
A Monterey County judge reportedly was removed from the bench this week becuse of sentencing improprieties.
They included increasing sentences for probation violators without giving them due process, joking with defendants about their sentences and penalizing defendants whose lawyers were late to court, according to the AP.
A three-judge panel appointed by the Commission on Judicial Performance found Superior Court Judge Jose Velasquez guilty of seven counts of misconduct, the AP reported. In addition to sentencing issues, the judge also had allowed his children to run around in the bench area while court was in session, according to the article.
