Charles Bridges Reprimanded

Charles D. Bridges, a Putnam County Superior Court judge in Indiana, was publicly reprimanded by the Indiana Supreme Court after the state's Commission on Judicial Qualifications charged him with judicial misconduct. The case arose from a lawsuit in which a woman sought a share of sale proceeds from a home she said she had helped maintain and improve while cohabiting with a former romantic partner.

The Commission found Bridges repeatedly ruled on motions in the case without giving the woman adequate time to respond, and separately found he made injudicious, disparaging comments about women who bring these kinds of unjust-enrichment claims against former cohabiting partners — violating the Code of Judicial Conduct's requirement that judges act without bias or prejudice based on gender. Chief Justice Loretta H. Rush approved the public reprimand on January 7, 2025.