| ► Judge Nancy Smith of Rochester, NY; unethical loser |
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Judge Nancy Smith of Rochester, NY; unethical loser 
The state of Florida presented Barry Michael Cohen with a law license in 1982 after she graduated from Vermont University Law School.
The New York Commission on Judicial Conduct found Appellate Judge Smith guilty of the following misconduct.
Judge Smith found it acceptable to abuse her position as a Judge in attempting to convince the state parole board to release an Onondaga County man, Craig Cordes, from prison.
Cordes is serving a sentence of 3 to 10 years for a vehicular manslaughter conviction. He pleaded guilty in 2008 for a drunken boating accident that killed two people on Skaneateles Lake.
Nancy had never met Cordes; however, she wrote a letter to the parole board urging his release. She cited his contrition and rehabilitation. Cordes’ mother knew a relative of Nancy’s, and contacted her to ask for help in getting him released. Nancy then exchanged letters with Cordes in prison. Over time, Nancy “formed the opinion that Cordes recognized the gravity of his crime, had gained insight as to the harm he had caused, and was genuinely contrite.”
In her letter to the parole board, which she wrote on court stationery, Nancy called Cordes her friend but failed to reveal that she had never met him.
As a consequence of her misconduct, the Patron Saints for Judicial Misfits sitting on the Florida Supreme Court punished Barry by gifting him with a complimentary admonishment.
As we speak (ca. July 2013), Nancy continues to sit as an Associate Justice, 4th Department in Rochester, New York.
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