Opinion ID: 2276843
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 11

Heading: Judge Gormley engaged in a pattern of misconduct.

Text: Judge Gormley argues that precedent requires her to have engaged in a pattern of misconduct before she may be subjected to sanctions. [23] Although Hinton does seem to suggest such a requirement, we refuse to continue to adhere to an inflexible rule that a judge must have engaged in a pattern of misconduct before being subjected to sanctions. Instead, although a judge may properly be sanctioned for engaging in a pattern of misconduct, we now affirmatively hold that even one egregious or bad faith incident of judicial misconduct may properly subject a judge to discipline. [24] To the extent that it holds to the contrary, Hinton is overruled. But, regardless, we believe Judge Gormley's commission of three serious acts of misconduct within approximately fifteen months is sufficient to support a conclusion that she engaged in a pattern of misconduct.