Opinion ID: 1746768
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 9

Heading: The presence or absence of mitigating circumstances.

Text: ¶ 51. Boland has maintained that the Prince matter is a mistake due to her misunderstanding of the statute. However, when her mistake was presented to her by counsel for Prince, she refused to acknowledge her mistake and again sent Prince back to jail. Boland refuses to accept responsibility for the harm she caused Prince and members of the Prince family. ¶ 52. Boland was not only a justice court judge, but a licensed attorney in this state. Although argument was presented that Mississippi Code Annotated Section 99-23-1 is confusing, it doesn't take a law degree, or for that matter, a high school diploma, to read that incarceration is not provided for in the statute. Boland, acting on information that Prince terrorized the neighborhood, used her power as a judge to incarcerate him in jail or confine him to a drug treatment facility. Boland freely acknowledged that she thought peace bonds would be a good way to get people into her drug court. Incarcerating Prince as opposed to requiring him to post bond was clearly an abuse of Boland's power as a judge. ¶ 53. Commission Counsel requests that Boland should be subject to an additional fine of $13,889.75, which is equal to a ninety-day suspension without pay. Boland cannot forfeit a salary which she no longer receives. In addition, the Commission's recommendation is an option that is constitutionally unavailable. While giving great deference to the Commission's findings, we are also charged to render independent judgment. Miss. Comm'n on Judicial Performance v. Perdue, 853 So.2d 85, 88 (Miss.2003) (citation omitted). ¶ 54. The Mississippi Constitution allows this Court to: remove from office, suspend, fine or publicly censure or reprimand any justice or judge of this State.... Miss. Const. art. 6, § 177A. As Boland is no longer in office, the penalties are limited by the Constitution. Since the public removed her from office before this Court could act on the Commission's recommendation, the remaining options are only to fine or publicly censure or reprimand her. Accordingly, we find that Boland should be publicly reprimanded and that the sanction for Boland is limited to a fine of $4,250, as well as the costs of these proceedings which the Commission states is $3,532.06. See M.R.A.P. 36.