Public Decisions Database

This database contains decisions on all public judicial disciplinary cases since the inception of the commission in 1960. Cases not involving public charges or public discipline remain confidential under the California Constitution and the commission’s rules.

Pursuant to amendments to the Constitution, which took effect in March 1995, the commission is authorized to impose all disciplinary sanctions, subject to discretionary review by the Supreme Court. Prior to that, the Supreme Court had the authority to censure or remove judges from office upon recommendation by the commission.

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First Name	Jerrold L.
Last Name	Wenger
Title	Judge
Inquiry No.	39
Court Level	Justice Court
County/Appellate District	El Dorado
Discipline/Determination	Removal from office
Decision By	Supreme Court
Date of Decision	07/13/1981
Method of Resolution	Decision
Types of Misconduct	Abuse of contempt/sanctions Bias/appearance of bias not directed toward a particular class Disqualification/disclosure/post-disqualification conduct Failure to ensure rights On-bench abuse of authority in performance of judicial duties
Petition For Review
Summary	Judge Wenger refused to honor peremptory disqualifications of himself, instead, intruding into matters that had become another judge’s responsibility and denouncing the disqualification as an affront. When annoyed by a party’s conduct, the judge pried into counsel's advice or attempted to sway counsel from representing the party. The judge interfered with the practice of law by threatening or purporting to exclude attorneys from his courtroom and sentencing an attorney to jail when the attorney had given appropriate advice to the client. He overstepped limits on his power to resolve civil disputes by attempting to punish non-obedience to his informal directions as a contempt and unilaterally investigating facts in the cases. He also disregarded or violated contempt procedural rules.
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