| Massachusetts' top court has publicly reprimanded a judge who wrote threatening letters to the publisher of the Boston Herald after he won a $2 million libel judgment against the paper.pThe Supreme Judicial Court's punishment for Judge Ernest Murphy is slightly less severe than the public censure and $25,000 fine recommended by the state's Commission on Judicial Conduct. The SJC did order Murphy to reimburse the commission for its costs./ppThe case began in 2002, after the Herald published a series of stories depicting Murphy as soft on crime. Several quoted Murphy as saying a young rape victim should get over it./ppMurphy won his lawsuit, then wrote threatening letters to the Herald publisher demanding payment./ppMurphy agreed in August to step down from the bench, citing health problems brought on by the stress of the case. /p |
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