Thomas F. Rathbun Jr. Removed

Thomas F. Rathbun Jr., a non-attorney town justice in Salisbury, New York (Herkimer County) since 2002, was removed from office by the New York Court of Appeals on September 13, 2024, following an 11-0 Commission on Judicial Conduct determination that found a wide range of sustained misconduct. The Commission found Rathbun kept a statue featuring the Confederate flag on his desk, visible from the courtroom when the door was open, since 2005, and posted inappropriate political commentary on his public Facebook page between March 2012 and September 2017 — including a 2017 post reading "I'm proud to be white" — with at least 20 such posts still publicly visible as of February 2024. The Commission also found Rathbun failed to complete any judicial training credits in 2023, barring him from performing judicial duties; failed to file required monthly financial reports with the state comptroller for three consecutive months in early 2023, resulting in his salary being stopped; left an eviction proceeding unadjudicated for 11 months; and did not cooperate with the Commission's own investigation by ignoring its letters of inquiry.