Sacramento judge admonished for inappropriate remarks

The Commission on Judicial Performance publicly admonished Sacramento County Judge Matthew J. Gary on Thursday, ruling he made inappropriate comments in a family law case.

Gary, on the bench for 18 years, made "undignified" and "sarcastic" comments toward parties in a contentious custody dispute, improperly injected religion into proceedings, and gave off the appearance of bias, the commission found. The charges were aggravated by two previous cases in which the commission issued an advisory letter to the judge.

The admonishment is the result of a stipulation reached between Gary and the commission.

"Judge Gary's loss of objectivity and neutrality, his lack of courtesy and dignity when addressing those appearing before him, and his improper comments about religion violated the canons of judicial ethics," the commission wrote in its decision.

James A. Murphy, Gary's attorney, said the judge was aggravated because he felt the parents were using their child against each other in a difficult dissolution matter.

"The stipulation recognizes judges have to deal with very difficult situations and this was one of them," said Murphy, a founding shareholder at Murphy, Pearson, Bradley & Feeney. "A judge has to be a lot more temperate than Judge Gary was."

During one proceeding, the commission said the judge exhibited bias when he said he was "picking sides" and "the parties are going to find themselves with nothing in the end." The judge also disparaged the parties throughout the case, according to the commission.

"Way to go. Way to go. I'm done. Go off to trial, burn it all up. Good luck. And good luck to [the child], because it ain't going to turn out well for her. This is unbelievable," the judge told the bickering parties in 2018.

Another time, the judge inappropriately referred to religion when the discussion turned to the child asking her parents about death, the commission found.

"Without bickering with me, isn't it one of the purposes of religion for adults [sic] everlasting life so that you don't have to face death? Don't we all have perceptions of death?" asked the judge in 2018.

"Judge Gary improperly injected religion into court proceedings by referencing the Bible and discussing the promise of everlasting life," said the commission.

"It was more of a philosophical discussion," said Murphy. "Was it religion-based? Yes. Was he advancing a religious belief? No."

In previous matters in which the judge received advisory letters, the commission said the judge failed to handle a matter appropriately when he held a party in contempt and sentenced a mother to five days in jail, the commission noted.

"Family law matters can be particularly fraught with emotion. These situations are when a calm and steady hand, a respectful demeanor, and the appearance of neutrality are especially needed," said the commission.