Judge's Removal Recommended for Prolonged Tirade Over Courtroom Cell Phone

A two-hour fit of pique in which a judge ordered 46 defendants into custody because none would take responsibility for a cell phone that went off in court should cost him his judicial career, the New York Commission on Judicial Conduct recommended Tuesday. According to the commission, Judge Robert M. Restaino announced that "every single person is going to jail ... unless I get that instrument now." The commmission concluded that Restaino became a "petty tyrant, abusing his judicial power."

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