New York judge faces discipline for years of 'improper' political contributions
A New York judge has been admonished for contributing more than $6,000 to progressive political causes. (Image from Shutterstock)
A New York judge has been admonished for contributing more than $6,000 to progressive political causes.
The New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct announced Friday that Judge James H. Ridgeway, a justice of the Richland Town Court in Oswego County, New York, “acknowledged that his conduct was improper” and agreed to the admonition.
Ridgeway began serving as a judge in 2000 but also worked as a staff representative with the United Steelworkers Union for many years.
According to the commission, Ridgeway made 138 contributions totaling $3,311 in automatic payroll deductions to the United Steelworkers Union political action fund from 2006 to 2017. He made 33 contributions totaling $824 to ActBlue, an online fundraising platform for the Democratic Party, from 2006 to 2016. He also made eight contributions totaling $265 to the presidential campaign of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Democrat from Vermont, from 2015 to 2016.
Ridgeway’s wife made 109 contributions totaling $1,306 to ActBlue and seven contributions totaling $322 to a group called Stop Republicans in his name and using his credit card between 2019 and 2023, the commission additionally noted.
The rules governing judicial conduct mandate that judges “refrain from directly or indirectly engaging in political activity, including making contributions to a political organization or candidate,” according to the commission’s news release.
Commission administrator Robert H. Tembeckjian also said in the release judges “cannot grant or cede authority to others to make such contributions for them—not to an employer, a relative or anyone else.”
Ridgeway, who is not an attorney, retired from the United Steelworkers Union in 2017. He works as a jurist part time, with his current term on the Richland Town Court expiring Dec. 31, 2027.
Tembeckjian added that “Ridgeway was cooperative and candidly admitted ignorance of the applicable rules or even where some of his money was going.” He said the judge “committed to strict adherence going forward.”
The New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct has issued 288 determinations of admonitions against judges since 1978, its news release said.
Law.com has additional coverage.
New York attorney Robert F. Julian represents Ridgeway and did not respond to the publication’s request for comment.
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Judging the Judges: State judicial oversight often lacks consistency and transparency
