CONDUCTING THE CONDUCT COMMISSION
The Albany City judge who “seemingly” challenged a defendant to fist fight will keep his job. The Commission on Judicial Conduct issued a divided opinion yesterday as to whether William Carter should stay on the bench.  In a separate incident, Carter once suggested that a police officer “thump the shit out of” another person in his courtroom (the story doesn’t say who, just that the individual was “allegedly disrespectful.”)  The majority of the Commission voted just for censure, while two commissioners and a staff member called for removal. John Caher goes deep in the New York Law Journal into the debate on how the Commission should do its job.


VALIDITY WITHOUT SPECIFICITY?
During closing arguments yesterday in the terrorism cases against a local imam and pizza shop owner, U.S. District Judge Thomas McAvoy, “citing no specific reason”, told the jury that the FBI had a valid reason to target the men, Brendan Lyons reports in the Albany Times Union. Apparently the prosecution and defense had haggled over how much the jury should know about why the feds targeted the Kurdish refugee, Yassin Aref and his friend, Mohammed Hossain. The result? McAvoy told the jury the FBI had “certain valid suspicions.” Deliberations could begin today or tomorrow . . . In another curious terrorism charge, the feds indicted a 51-year-old woman living in a Manhattan homeless shelter, authorities confirmed yesterday. The Daily News says the woman is accused of providing material support for an Iran-based terrorism group.

 
BRIEFLY NOTED
The Saddam Hussein verdict will be delayed, according to an AP report via The New York Times. The court trying the former dictator says it might recall some witnesses. Meanwhile, the New York Post reports that the U.S. Supreme Court met only briefly yesterday — and sans Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer, because it was Yom Kippur. The court starts work in earnest today.