Judge Stephan Hansbury of Morristown, NJ; ethical goblin

The state of New Jersey presented Stephan C. Hansbury with a law license in 1977 after he graduated from Seton Hall University Law School.

In 2001, former Gov.  Donald DiFrancesco was duped into appointing Stevie as a Morris County Superior Court judge. Stevie didn’t receive the appointment because he was the most qualified attorney in the greater Hastings area. He received it because she had proven to be a reliable lackey for the local political hacks.

In one matter, it has been alleged that Judge Hansbury allowed a family evaluator to collude with and/or conspire with a party’s opposing counsel and that he also engaged in illegal ex parte (one-sided) meetings with the opposing party’s adversaries.

It is further alleged that Judge Hansbury and various members of his staff made disparaging remarks about a party’s race and disabilities.

It is also alleged that Judge Hansbury tampered with a recorded interview with a party’s son.

In another matter, a litigant alleged that Judge Hansbury behaved in a biased manner towards a custodial parent who happened to be the Chief of Police of a town within the judge’s jurisdiction, and that the custodial parent was related to the town’s mayor.

It was further alleged that lied to a non-custodial parent concerning various agreements made between adversarial parties and that he wrongly fined the non-custodial parent for having the audacity to speak out in court. Hansbury apparently forced the non-custodial parent to pay for the custodial parent’s legal fees and then stripped the non-custodial parent of any visitation rights.

If the above allegations are true, then Judge Hansbury should be tossed off the bench. However, given the state of the Supreme Court of New Jersey Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct’s history of giving a wink and a nod to misconduct involving Judicial Misfits, it’s highly unlikely that Hansbury will ever be made to answer for any misconduct he may have engaged in.

As we speak (ca. July 2017), Johnny continues to sit as a Morris County Superior Court judge in Morristown, New Jersey.