A New York City judge has been censured for coercing her employees to participate in religious activities. Judge Mary Brigantti-Hughes had received permission to host a voluntary Bible study and prayer group during lunch hour, but an official investigation revealed that her activities didn’t end with lunch. The results of the commission’s investigation are damning. From 2006-2011, Brigantti-Hughes regularly violated her staffers’ rights by treating the courthouse like an extension of her church. The allegations detailed in the commission’s final report reveal a consistent pattern of proselytization.The judge directed members of her staff to type or copy religious materials intended for her personal use, and she requested that her court attorney accompany her to a Home Depot to purchase potted plants for her church—during business hours.Not content with her lunch time Bible study, Brigantti-Hughes also regularly asked staff to pray with her in her chambers and invited – some might say hectored – staff to attend religious services and Bible studies with her. According to the report, several staff members gave in to the judge’s insistent invitations. One staffer attended church services; another attended a church fundraiser at her own expense. Yet another attended a weekend women’s retreat, also at her own expense. All events were hosted by the judge’s church.Unbelievably, Brigantti-Hughes told the commission she didn’t realize that her activities appeared coercive.

“Respondent asserts that she did not intend to coerce any employee into engaging in religious activity and never suggested explicitly or implicitly that any employee would suffer adverse consequences for declining her invitations to pray or to attend religious events,” the report reads, and adds later that the investigation didn’t turn up evidence to contradict the judge’s statements.Even so, that’s a disturbing lack of discernment in a person charged with applying the law. The commission seems to have corrected her confusion; the report notes that the judge now understands that her requests were “inherently coercive” and that staff members did indeed feel pressure to agree to her sectarian demands.It’s worth noting that Brigantti-Hughes didn’t contain her unethical activities to evangelism. She also repeatedly asked staff to provide child care and run errands for her during business hours. There’s no evidence that it ever occurred to the judge that her staff might have more important tasks to perform, or that they might object to being treated like domestic servants. It seems that her concern for their well-bring did not extend past the state of their souls.In a statement, a spokesman for the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct condemned the judge’s behavior.“Judge Brigantti-Hughes called upon her subordinates to perform personal tasks more than occasionally in non-emergency circumstances, and she repeatedly crossed a line with sincere but inherently coercive invitations to religious activities, all of which require public discipline,” Robert H. Tembeckjian said.Censure is the extent of the punishment Brigantti-Hughes will face for her actions. New York’s state constitution does not permit her removal from office, so she’ll stay on the bench as a trial court judge.Since Brigantti-Hughes gets to keep her job, she might want to reacquaint herself with the law. Courtrooms are intended to be neutral zones, and as a judge, it’s her responsibility to uphold that neutrality. She betrayed that responsibility in order to pursue a dogmatic agenda.Let’s hope she shows more discretion, and respect for the law, in the future.