N.Y. JUD Law § 46 — New York Code / Act JUD / Article 2-A / Section 46
Breach of confidentiality of commission information
Status: in_force

§ 46. Breach of confidentiality of commission information. 1.  Any\nstaff member, employee or agent of the state commission on judicial\nconduct who violates any of the provisions of section forty-five of this\narticle shall be subject to a reprimand, a fine, suspension or removal\nby the commission.\n  2. Within ten days after the commission has acquired knowledge that a\nstaff member, employee or agent of the commission has or may have\nbreached the provisions of section forty-five of this article, written\ncharges against such staff member, employee or agent shall be prepared\nand signed by the chairman of the commission and filed with the\ncommission.  Within five days after receipt of charges, the commission\nshall determine, by a vote of the majority of all the members of the\ncommission, whether probable cause for such charges exists. If such\ndetermination is affirmative, within five days thereafter a written\nstatement specifying the charges in detail and outlining his rights\nunder this section shall be forwarded to the accused staff member,\nemployee or agent by certified mail. The commission may suspend the\nstaff member, employee or agent, with or without pay, pending the final\ndetermination of the charges. Within ten days after receipt of the\nstatement of charges, the staff member, employee or agent shall notify\nthe commission in writing whether he desires a hearing on the charges.\nThe failure of the staff member, employee or agent to notify the\ncommission of his desire to have a hearing within such period of time\nshall be deemed a waiver of the right to a hearing. If the hearing has\nbeen waived, the commission shall proceed, within ten days after such\nwaiver, by a vote of a majority of all the members of such commission,\nto determine the charges and fix the penalty or punishment, if any, to\nbe imposed as hereinafter provided.\n  3. Upon receipt of a request for a hearing, the commission shall\nschedule a hearing, to be held at the commission offices, within twenty\ndays after receipt of the request therefor, and shall immediately notify\nin writing the staff member, employee or agent of the time and place\nthereof.\n  4. The commission shall have the power to establish necessary rules\nand procedures for the conduct of hearings under this section. Such\nrules shall not require compliance with technical rules of evidence. All\nsuch hearings shall be held before a hearing panel composed of three\nmembers of the commission selected by the commission. Each hearing shall\nbe conducted by the chairman of the panel who shall be selected by the\npanel. The staff member, employee or agent shall have a reasonable\nopportunity to defend himself and to testify on his own behalf. He shall\nalso have the right to be represented by counsel, to subpoena witnesses\nand to cross-examine witnesses. All testimony taken shall be under oath\nwhich the chairman of the panel is hereby authorized to administer. A\nrecord of the proceedings shall be made and a copy of the transcript of\nthe hearing shall, upon written request, be furnished without charge to\nthe staff member, employee or agent involved.\n  5. Within five days after the conclusion of a hearing, the panel shall\nforward a report of the hearing, including its findings and\nrecommendations, including its recommendations as to penalty or\npunishment, if one is warranted, to the commission and to the accused\nstaff member, employee or agent. Within ten days after receipt of such\nreport the commission shall determine whether it shall implement the\nrecommendations of the panel. If the commission shall determine to\nimplement such recommendations, which shall include the penalty or\npunishment, if any, of a reprimand, a fine, suspension for a fixed time\nwithout pay or dismissal, it shall do so within five days after such\ndetermination.  If the charges against the staff member, employee or\nagent are dismissed, he shall be restored to his position with full pay\nfor any period of suspension without pay and the charges shall be\nexpunged from his record.\n  6. The accused staff member, employee or agent may seek review of the\ndetermination of the commission by way of a special proceeding pursuant\nto article seventy-eight of the civil practice law and rules.\n