Justice Is Not Served

Arrested on suspicion of drunk driving twice in the space of a month, Judge Robert C. Bradley clearly has a problem.

Is it a career-ending problem? Voters will decide that in June. But for now, the public deserves to have him off the road and off the bench. As long as he insists on coming to work every day, the Ventura County Superior Court has a problem as well.

That’s because there’s more at stake here than a minor traffic infraction that could happen to anyone. Participants in court cases need to know that the judge presiding over them is neither impaired nor distracted. Even more, the public needs to have faith that its judges have good judgment.

If Judge Bradley truly wants to keep his troubles from adversely affecting the court, he should request a leave of absence and concentrate full time on solving his problems. Medical, legal, marital, political--his docket of difficulties is full enough for anyone.

After his first arrest, in December, a breath test showed Judge Bradley with blood alcohol levels more than twice the legal limit. He sought help at a rehabilitation hospital. Then, last weekend, he was arrested again.

Fortunately, neither incident led to injury or death. But for the sake of public safety, for the dignity of the court and for his own health, Judge Bradley needs to solve his drinking problem as soon as possible.

Then there are his legal problems. If convicted of both DUIs, the judge could face a 30-day jail sentence, fine and driver’s license suspension. The prospect of a judge presiding over court proceedings while on work-release is daunting indeed.

In a memo written after his second arrest, Judge Bradley told colleagues he was going through “what is clearly the most difficult period of my life.” While he did not elaborate, friends say marital difficulties and the death of his mother have contributed.

His stress level is not likely to decrease soon. Judge Bradley has announced plans to seek reelection in June. Already, one potential challenger has stepped forward; others are sure to follow if he fails to show that he is doing everything in his power to straighten out his life.

For all these reasons, we urge Judge Bradley to take a three-month leave of absence. Then, if he is determined to solve his problems and remain a judge, he could at least have his pending cases behind him and be able to point to that time period as a new beginning.

In his memo, the judge thanked his colleagues for their support and vowed “to work doubly hard to continue to deserve that support and to restore the public’s confidence in me.”

We wish him good fortune, strength and courage in the hard work ahead, but encourage him to let others take over the bench. Judge Bradley owes it to himself as well as the county to focus these days on his own problems instead of the cases before him.