Ex-Judge Banned From Bench for a Year

VENTURA — After an embarrassing string of alcohol-related arrests, retired Ventura County Superior Court Judge Robert C. Bradley has been banned from the bench for at least a year and publicly reprimanded for his drunken conduct.

The state Commission on Judicial Performance handed down its unanimous decision late Thursday in a written ruling, saying Bradley’s conduct “clearly warrants a public censure.”

The ruling stopped short, however, of the severest punishment available, which would have been a lifetime ban. This decision allows the retired jurist to reapply in a year to hear cases on a part-time basis as a temporary judge, which Bradley has said many times is his objective.

“He thought that the decision, under all the circumstances, was a fair one,” said Bradley’s attorney, Thomas C. Brayton.

The 58-year-old jurist, who served 16 years on the bench, was suspended last year after two drunk driving convictions and reporting to work intoxicated.

After stepping down, he violated the terms of his probation four times in six months, mostly by drinking, and served two jail sentences.

Bradley did not seek reelection last year, but has repeatedly indicated a desire to return to the bench. At a commission hearing in San Francisco last month, Bradley asked for another chance, telling commissioners he has been sober nine months, working for a Ventura contractor and is capable of handling court cases.

But commission prosecutors fiercely opposed the idea. They said his behavior was unprecedented for a sitting judge.