Anybody can make the mistake of driving drunk, even those whose job it is to impose the punishments for a California DUI conviction.
The San Francisco Chronicle has reported that California’s judicial disciplinary agency said San Mateo County Superior Court Judge Joseph Scott violated principles of judicial ethics, including “failure to observe high standards of conduct so that the integrity and independence of the judiciary will be preserved, and failure to respect and comply with the law and to act at all times in a manner that promotes public confidence in the integrity of the judiciary.”
The statement of public admonition comes after Scott, 64, pleaded no contest to a California DUI charge. Scott was fined $1,889 and placed on three years of probation.
Scott was arrested at 12:30am on May 24th after driving erratically on Highway 101 in Redwood City. Law enforcement later determined that his blood alcohol content was 0.12 percent.
I don’t know what kinds of cases Judge Scott presides over. I just hope that if he sees DUI cases in his courtroom, he remembers that those who come before him, charged with a California DUI, are not all that different from him; someone who just made a mistake.
