Judge Melanie Appleby of Toms River, NJ; ethical dwarf

The State of New Jersey presented Melanie Donohue Appleby with a law license in 1994 after she graduated from the University of Massachusetts Law School.

The Supreme Court of New Jersey Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct found Melanie guilty of the following misconduct.

• Knowingly engaged in a conflict of interest by communicating about representation in her child support matter with attorney regularly appearing in her court
• Engaged in conduct casting doubt on ability to act impartially
• Failed to recuse (withdraw) from several cases when she was required to do so because of a conflict of interest
• Engaged in conduct that interfered with her judicial duties
• Engaged in conduct that demeaned her judicial office

As a consequence of her misconduct, the enablers for Judicial Misfits sitting on the New Jersey Supreme Court punished Melanie by gifting her with a complimentary 30-day suspension from the bench.

As we speak (ca. January 2016), Melanie continues to sit as a Superior Court Ocean Vicinage Family Court Judge in Toms River, New Jersey.