The Judicial Qualifications Commission
A constitutionally created, independent agency responsible for investigating complaints of judicial misconduct and/or judicial incapacity, and for disciplining judges in the State of Georgia. It is composed of two lay people, two judges and three attorneys who, after investigation and hearings, may recommend to the state Supreme Court the removal, discipline, or retirement of a particular judge. The Commission operates under rules established by the Supreme Court.
Cobb Chief Magistrate Frank R. Cox took office in 2001. He supervised a staff of 50 people, including 14 judges. He received his B.S. Degree from Georgia State University and his Juris Doctor from Woodrow Wilson College of Law. Prior to his judgeship, Cox served as an assistant district attorney in Cobb for 15 years.
The following is a sample of the exchange between Cobb Chief Magistrate Frank Cox and an alleged victim of domestic violence during a hearing on Dec. 30, 2014. Read the entire transcript on myajc.com.
Cox: And are you and Mr. [Gregory] Ruiz married?
Answer: No.
Cox: I didn’t think so. How long have you lived there?
Answer: Fourteen years.
Cox: And do you have children with him?
Answer: Yes, four children.
Cox: Then you haven’t decided to get married?
Answer: No.
Cox: Well, why don’t you?
Answer: Because we never thought of it.
Cox: You’ve never thought about living with somebody for fourteen years and having four children, and it never even occurred to you to get married?
Answer: No.
Cox: Are you a native of this country?
Answer: Yes, sir.
Cox: And what kind of heritage do you have?
Answer: Latin.
Cox: What kind?
Answer: Latin.
Cox: Latin. The Latin people don’t believe in marriage when you have children?
Answer: They do, sir.
Cox: Okay. Well, I’m perplexed why you would have four children and not get married.
Cobb County’s chief magistrate has announced his intention to resign next month in the wake of an investigation by the state’s judicial watchdog and disciplinary organization.
Frank R. Cox, elected to the chief magistrate position in 2000, cited undisclosed health issues as the reason for stepping down in a Monday letter to Gov. Nathan Deal. The letter says Cox will use sick leave until his resignation takes effect Feb. 28.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution confirmed this week that two attorneys filed separate complaints against Cox with the Judicial Qualifications Commission, which investigates accusations of judicial misconduct and makes disciplinary recommendations to the Georgia Supreme Court.
Both complaints center around judicial temperament, and how people were treated in Cox’s courtroom.
The newspaper obtained a transcript from a Dec. 30 hearing in which Cox aggressively questioned an alleged victim of domestic abuse about her heritage and why she wasn’t married to a man with whom she has four children. It is unclear if the transcript, widely circulated in Cobb legal circles, had been incorporated in the complaints confirmed by the newspaper.
JQC investigations are performed in secret and are not subject to the state’s open records law. The agency’s actions typically become public only when it files formal charges against a judge, or when a settlement is reached before charges are filed.
Also, the JQC sometimes negotiates judicial resignations without ever publicly disclosing its involvement.
Marietta attorneys Gary Jones and S. Judson Waites II filed complaints against Cox. Jones’ complaint was filed earlier this month, while Waites filed his in October.
Jones declined to give any specifics behind his complaint, except to say it alleged “conduct unbecoming the office.”
“I was one of several attorneys who filed a complaint with the Judicial Qualifications Commission,” Jones said.
Waites said his complaint alleged violation of the judicial canon that deals with temperament. That canon says judges must “be patient, dignified, and courteous to litigants, jurors, witnesses, lawyers and others with whom they deal in their official capacity.”
“I witnessed him violate that on more than one occasion,” Waites said.
The chief magistrate is an important and influential position. That judge presides over Superior Court drug cases, appoints assistant magistrate judges, sets bonds and decides probable cause to detain defendants before an indictment.
Several people told the AJC that attorney Joel Pugh represented Cox in negotiations with the JQC. Pugh said Cox was out of town and that he could not confirm his representation of the judge without his consent. But Pugh said that Cox has done a “great job” for Cobb County as a judge, and assistant district attorney before that.
“I hate that he went out this way, because he was truly a very efficient judge,” Pugh said. “He had a judge resign and chose not to fill that spot to save money. That’s unheard of in county government.”
The Dec. 30 hearing involved a request to amend a temporary protective order so that a man accused of domestic violence could move back in with his girlfriend and their four children.
The woman was the only person questioned by Cox, who asked her if she was married. When she replied that she was not, he said, “I didn’t think so.”
“Is there any particular reason after 14 years … that you haven’t decided to get married?”
“Because we never thought of it,” she responded.
The judge then asked: “What kind of heritage do you have?”
“Latin,” she said.
“The Latin people don’t believe in marriage when you have children?” the judge asked.
“They do, sir,” she replied.
“Well, I’m still perplexed why you would have four children and not get married.”
The judge said to the woman later: “I presume you do not work.” She responded that she does work, and that her boyfriend stays home to take care of their children.
“Oh, that’s even better, that’s even better,” the judge said. “So when the children are at school, what is (the boyfriend) doing? Home baking cookies and being a homemaker?”
“He watches our youngest son,” she replied.
Pugh said having children out of wedlock is a “pet-peeve” for Cox.
“Unfortunately, in this situation, he offended some people,” Pugh said. “Frank is an old-fashioned guy.”
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