Judge Dianne Nicholas of Ottawa, Canada; repeat offender

The state of Vermont presented Dianne Nicholas with a law license in 1980 after she graduated from the University of Ottawa Law School.

The Ottawa Judicial Commission found Judge Nicholas guilty of the following misconduct.

Dianne’s 1^st bite at the Judicial Misfit Apple Tree - 2002

Dianne admitted that she made inappropriate and indiscreet comments about the relative of a woman who woman who appeared before her, only that time it was in open court and later on a public street.

The woman in question pleaded guilty to welfare fraud, and when her brother’s name came up , Dianne said she knew him and that “he used to be my daughter’s soccer coach and I really didn’t like him” and said that the man had a criminal record.

Dianne then went on to describe the coach as a “loser” who “left his wife and two children for the mother of one of our team … actually took up with one of the mothers on the team.

As a consequence of her misconduct, the apologists for Judicial Misfits sitting on the Judicial Commission punished Dianne by gifting her with absolutely no punishment of any kind.

Dianne’s 2^nd bite at the Judicial Misfit Apple Tree - 2014

Dianne’s misconduct was basically a repeat performance of her making inappropriate comments in court about people that she dislikes.

In this instance, Dianne found it acceptable to use her Facebook account as a tool to crudely criticize two of her fellow judges in Ontario.

In a posting Dianne made on her Facebook wall of a local assistant Crown attorney, she identified a fellow judge and her regional senior judge by their initials, saying that one had given a woman a reduced sentence because she had a certain kind of cancer which, the judge sneered, “is hardly a killer… in fact the very same cancer that [the sentencing judge] has herself….!!!!” and complained that between the two judges, the situation “is getting ridiculous,” because “our driving sentences are far below the mark…”

Dianne’s comments caused “a toxic atmosphere in the judges’ chambers,” with two judges saying they could no longer work with Dianne.

The executive of the Ottawa Defence Counsel Association decided that, given the views the judge expressed (that sentences in the area are too low) that “if she were to preside in court, they would need to bring a motion so that she would never preside in criminal driving cases because of their concerns that she would not be impartial…”

As a consequence of her misconduct, the Patron Saints for Judicial Misfits sitting on the Judicial Commission punished Dianne by gifting her with a complimentary reprimand.

As we speak (ca. August 2014), Dianne remains employed as a Judge on the Ontario Court of Justice