By Diana Haecker
Nome’s Superior Courtroom Choose Romano DiBenedetto is going through a public reprimand after the Alaska Fee on Judicial Conduct discovered possible trigger that his conduct violated canons dealing with proper judicial behavior.
Whereas the fee investigated the complaints lodged towards DiBenedetto, he has been on paid administrative depart since March 8, with different judges sharing the workload in his absence.
On July 3, the Alaska Fee on Judicial Conduct beneficial to the Alaska Supreme Courtroom a public reprimand, the least extreme of penalties.
In accordance with fee paperwork, two incidents led to complaints.
On January 8, 2025 Choose DiBenedetto was to preside over a listening to in Unalakleet, which was set after regular work hours. The listening to was delayed over an hour “as a result of the truth that he was watching a televised sports activities occasion,” the fee discovered. The choose then defined the delay “as a result of getting misplaced.” The fee discovered that this violated canons by “creating the looks that the court docket matter didn’t take priority over a private exercise.”
A second incident handled conduct exterior of the courtroom, however in presence of court docket employees.
“Choose DiBenedetto on multiple event mentioned testimony occurring in his courtroom,” the fee wrote. “In the midst of doing so, he sometimes tried to reenact the testimony or feedback of individuals in judicial proceedings, together with individuals who’re a part of ethnic teams aside from his personal.”
In accordance with the findings of reality within the fee’s file, the choose was “unaware that individuals listening to these reenactments would interpret them as demonstrating a scarcity of discretion and as undermining confidence within the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary.”
After an investigation and several other conferences, together with a particular assembly with the choose and his counsel, the fee issued their findings and advice.
In accordance with fee’s file, DiBenedetto didn’t contest the advice and waived his proper to a possible trigger dedication and formal disciplinary listening to.
Govt Director of the fee Marla Greenstein stated in an e-mail to the Nugget that “a public reprimand is taken into account a ‘baseline sanction’ for judicial self-discipline.” A public reprimand or public censure is the least extreme of the sanctions that the Supreme Courtroom can impose, she stated.
The Supreme Courtroom now can reject the fee’s advice or observe it. Greenstein defined that, at instances, the Alaska Supreme Courtroom has issued the general public reprimand as a written court docket order accompanying a written choice. Or, up to now, the Alaska Supreme Courtroom has requested the choose to look in entrance of the court docket for the reprimand to be learn in a court docket continuing.
Extra extreme sanctions could be suspension with out pay or elimination from workplace.
It’s now as much as the court docket system to determine what kind the general public reprimand will take and when DiBenedetto will return to the bench.
Rebecca Koford, public info officer with the Alaska Courtroom System stated the targets of a public reprimand are to discourage additional misconduct by the disciplined choose and different judges, to tell the general public about judicial misconduct and to supply public accountability for actions.
Whereas there isn’t any “probation” within the disciplinary course of, as soon as a choose has obtained a baseline sanction of a public reprimand or public censure, any extra misconduct that may warrant public self-discipline will doubtless be a sanction larger than that baseline, Greenstein stated.
In a letter to the fee, Kawerak CEO Melanie Bahnke referred to as for DiBenedetto’s resignation.
She offered context in describing a number of incidents through which the legal and judicial system on this area has failed tribal members over many years.
These included the homicide of Sonya Ivanoff by the hands of a police officer, the failure of Nome police to analyze sexual assaults and the general public censure of DiBenedetto’s predecessor Tim Dooley, who additionally was censured for biased and inappropriate remarks from the bench.
“As a result of our area is 75% Alaska Native, the logical assumption is that the choose was mocking Alaska Natives,” she wrote. “Choose DiBenedetto’s racist conduct has continued to perpetuate the notion that the legal and justice methods are designed to work towards minority populations within the Second Judicial District, the place there isn’t any room for even the slightest notion of continued racial bias or incompetence.”
Bahnke stated if the choose doesn’t settle for that he has broken the court docket’s status past his means to redeem it, and doesn’t resign, “I strongly urge the Alaska Supreme Courtroom to hold out its duty to the residents of the State of Alaska and dismiss him. Permitting him to proceed to serve able of authority over ethnic minorities he has disparaged could be a miscarriage of justice.”
DiBenedetto was appointed to the Nome Superior Courtroom in February 2017 by Governor Invoice Walker.
