Gary Chamberlain, a Justice of the Freedom Town Court, Cattaraugus County, resigned while under investigation by the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct for various alleged ethical violations, as noted below. Judge Chamberlain, who left office effective November 6, 2019, agreed never to seek or accept judicial office at any time in the future. The Commission accepted a stipulation to that effect signed by the judge, his attorney and the Commission’s Administrator and closed its investigation.1
1 The Stipulation was signed on November 14, 2019. The Commission accepted it on December 5, 2019, and thereafter issued an Order closing the matter.
Judge Chamberlain was apprised by the Commission in March 2019 and
October 2019 that it was investigating several complaints alleging that, over a two-year period beginning in October 2017, he:
• failed to enforce a town ordinance regulating storage of "junk" on residential properties;
• failed to properly inform a defendant during an arraignment of his due process rights; and
• sent a letter to the editor of a local paper in October 2018, in which he:
made statements that were political and partisan in nature;
criticized public officials and town residents concerning a matter of local controversy; and
criticized a range of executive decisions and policies of Governor Andrew Cuomo, whom he described as "corrupt," at a time when the governor was running for re-election.
Judge Chamberlain waived the statutory provision of confidentiality applicable to Commission proceedings, to the limited extent that the stipulation and Commission’s order accepting it and closing the case would be public.
The stipulation and the Commission’s order closing the case can be found on the Commission’s website: www.cjc.ny.gov. Statement by Commission Administrator
Commission Administrator Robert H. Tembeckjian made the following statement:
"A judge must be and appear fair, impartial and faithful to the law if the public is to have confidence in the courts. Competently applying ordinances and advising litigants of their fundamental rights, as well as avoiding partisan politics, are among the many ways a judge is expected to fulfill that mandate."
