High Court Censures Fresno Judge for Sexual Harassment

The California Supreme Court on Thursday publicly censured a Fresno Superior Court judge for sexual harassment after finding that he made suggestive comments and inappropriate advances to staff members.

The court acted after an investigation by a judicial watchdog agency determined that Judge John E. Fitch, 62, made offensive remarks to female court reporters and clerks about their buttocks, breasts and legs and patted a court reporter and a court trainee on the buttocks.

“Your butt looks good in that dress,” Fitch told a court reporter.

After another court reporter spurned his attempt to kiss her, Fitch said: “I certainly hope you’re not that frigid at home with your husband.”

Fitch, who will be allowed to remain on the bench, is the first California judge to be censured in eight years. The court employees complained about his conduct to their presiding judge, who triggered an inquiry by the California Commission on Judicial Performance.

The commission unanimously decided that Fitch should be censured, which is one step short of removal. The watchdog group found that he had contributed extensively to the community and had discontinued inappropriate behavior after staff members complained in 1992.

“He is a skilled, able and hard-working judge whose courtroom conduct is beyond reproach,” the California Supreme Court wrote, summarizing the commission’s findings.

Fitch, who represented himself during a hearing before the court, could not be reached for comment.

The court reviewed his case after Fitch appealed the commission’s decision. He challenged the credibility of the witnesses who testified against him, arguing that they misinterpreted innocent words or gestures, had motives to lie and delayed reporting their complaints.

But the court said it found that the commission’s decision was supported by “clear and convincing” evidence. Among other evidence, the court cited a commission findin that Fitch made a joke about oral copulation to a female court reporter.

Fitch’s conduct, the court said, brought disrepute to his judicial office and damaged the reputation of the judiciary.

Former Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. appointed Fitch to the Superior Court in 1980. The son of a dean of a Protestant seminary, Fitch grew up in Eagle Rock and graduated from Occidental College. He served five years in the Navy before attending Boalt Hall School of Law at UC Berkeley.