Harnessing support to de-certify wayward judges

Part 3 of a 4-part series

 Last year, I noted in my op-ed for Virginia Lawyers Weekly: 

“Judge Horan was not alone in being rewarded for deplorable courtroom behavior. Fairfax County General District Court judges Michael Cantrell and Mitchell Mutnick share the same judicious temperament as Judge Horan. Like Horan, both judges have received numerous complaints over many years. In March, the Virginia legislature also censured Fairfax County General District Court Judges Michael Cantrell and Mitchell Mutnick for being abusive toward citizens. They had both received embarrassingly low scores on their Judicial Performance Evaluations and complaints from court staff, citizens, lawyers, and lawmakers. The Virginia legislature did not reappoint either Mutnick or Cantrell and, instead, forced them to resign at the end of their respective terms. Based on performance evaluations, Cantrell scored last among 50 Virginia judges, and Mutnick scored especially poor for ‘patience,’ ‘respect,’ and ‘bias and prejudice.’ These privileged ‘good ole’ boys’ enjoyed enormous, unbridled power and advantages throughout their lives and took almost a perverse pleasure in disrespecting the underprivileged and those they viewed as weak and beneath them.”

At the time, Virginia Code § 16.1-69:35(b) allowed the chief judge of the General District Court to designate a retired district judge to sit as a substitute judge and preside over matters, even if serious allegations of unsuitability were raised against that judge. This law was being used to circumvent and undermine the actions of legislators who have ousted disgraced judges. However, there was a way to fix the problem created by this law. Chief Judge Lisa Mayne had the power to prevent wayward judges from sitting as substitute judges—she simply chose not to do so.

While lawmakers, lawyers, law enforcement, and citizens had widely criticized these judges’ courtroom antics and inability to maintain a judicial temperament, Mayne inexplicably permitted Horan, Cantrell, and Mutnick to sit as substitute judges.

Mayne was not ignorant of the charges that had repeatedly been leveraged against these three judges over the years, even in their roles as substitute judges. However, she chose to ignore them and further continued to protect this privileged group of men and their long-standing relationships with her. Unfortunately, the victims of these privileged relationships were innocent citizens like my pro bono client, Amanda. 

Thankfully, our elected officials in the Virginia General Assembly thought differently. 

In the 2022-2023 Virginia General Assembly’s legislative session, I was proud to help lead a process that enlightened our legislators about the abuse that had been taking place in Fairfax County General District Court under the current leadership. I shared my op-ed and educated lawmakers one-on-one. The session adjourned sine die in March. While I was unsuccessful in my efforts to dismantle relationships on the bench that permitted and rewarded privileged abuse of power by these three judges, I was successful in convincing our delegation that our community deserves better. 

In Richmond, I argued that it’s not just privilege but subterfuge at play when judges are forced to retire due to their abominable courtroom behavior but are then given the ability to return through a back door and continue to hold such complete and arbitrary control over our community. And what happens to the victims of this subterfuge—the citizens we serve? Wayward judges make life-altering decisions for people who are invariably at their most vulnerable. Those who appear before these sub-judges are victims of the same dangerous misconduct that led to judges like Judge Horan being relieved of their duties. This is not how justice is served.

If people like Mutnick, Horan, and Cantrell are permitted to serve even after being ousted by the very body they now wish to seek recertification from, the process to reappoint or not reappoint becomes nothing more than a vacuous and corrupt process.

Sharing my op-ed, Virginia Delegate Kaye Kory agreed and publicly noted, “Judges we have forced to retire due to unacceptable bench behavior should not be appointed as substitutes. #waywardjudges.” With this public affirmation, it was becoming clear that lawmakers were not going to tolerate the tyranny and nonsense permitted in the Fairfax County General District Court. 

As leadership in Fairfax County General District Court continued to shield these rogue judges and their dark relationships, stay tuned to read how lawmakers took decisive action to protect the public from their abuses. 

This is part 3 of a 4-part series. The first op-ed ran Aug. 2. The second op-ed ran Aug. 23.

Andaleeb “Andi” Geloo is a first-generation immigrant Muslim, lawyer, and author of “Andi’s Law,” which expanded the rights of citizens seeking protection from defamation. She earned her law degree from George Washington Law School with high honors and practices law in Fairfax County. She also covers pro bono matters for underprivileged families throughout Virginia and can be reached at Andigeloolaw@gmail.com and https://fairfaxvirginialawyer.com/-9\