CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Akron federal Judge John Adams has been reprimanded by a court disciplinary panel and ordered to submit to a mental health evaluation for a series of actions the panel found problematic, including threatening to hold a magistrate judge in contempt for missing a filing deadline.

The inquiry, which has been an open secret among those who practice in and watch the local federal courts, has gone on for several years. Many have discussed the probe in relation to complaints and issues they have had with Adams, who was appointed by President George W. Bush in 2003. The judge remains defiant and said Wednesday that he is considering a lawsuit to challenge his sanctions.

The Committee on Judicial Conduct and Disability of the Judicial Conference of the United States wrote in a decision filed Monday that Adams committed misconduct when he issued a "show cause order" in February 2013 to a magistrate judge who missed a deadline to submit a report and recommendation in a Social Security benefits case.

Adams eventually said the magistrate judge "satisfied" the order and admitted that it was improper, but that instance was just the latest in a string of hostile actions the judge took toward his colleagues, according to the decision.

The panel also said Adams committed misconduct when he refused to submit to a psychological examination as ordered earlier and ordered him to undergo one.

"This is particularly important because a federal judge's sound mental health is essential to his or her fulfillment of all judicial duties," the panel's decision says.

(You can read the full decision, along with a response from Adams' attorneys, at the bottom of this story.)

Adams said Wednesday that he is "deeply disappointed" with the decision.

"This case is not about my mental health. It's about my efforts to improve court administration," Adams said. "Our oath, the oath of district judges, is to administer justice without respect to persons and do equal right to the poor and to the rich. Those poor include numerous Social Security claimants who wait years to have their cases decided."

Adams said he showed "overwhelming evidence of my sound mental health," including the opinions of two experts, but that the committees did not consider the information. He said he is considering his legal options, including the possibility of filing of a federal lawsuit.

Adams is being represented by Judicial Watch, a conservative watchdog group. Tom Fitton, the president of the group, said in a statement Wednesday that "the handling of the judicial complaint ... is an abuse of the judicial ethics process." It says Adams "is a fine jurist committed to the highest standards of judicial ethics and has served with distinction on the federal bench for over 14 years."

Chief U.S. District Judge Patricia Gaughan said Wednesday that it would be inappropriate to comment on Adams' case.

Sanctioning a magistrate judge



The decision says the investigation began in 2013 after the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati received a complaint from four unnamed federal judges. A special committee was formed, which then conducted an investigation.

The inquiry showed that the magistrate judge that Adams threatened with sanctions missed the deadline because of a clerical error. The magistrate judge, whom the decision does not name, emailed Adams the day they found out about the show cause order and took responsibility. They also began arranging for legal representation for a possible hearing and worked to finish the report, the decision states.

Two days later, Adams' law clerk called the magistrate judge to inform them that Adams accepted the explanation for missing the deadline, according to the decision.

The decision says the federal judges in the Northern District of Ohio "expressed immediate concern" and that the chief judge -- then U.S. District Judge Solomon Oliver Jr. -- sent a letter to Adams saying the incident was improper and requested that Adams vacate his order.

Adams refused, saying the order was "precisely the message that needed to be sent," the decision states.

Issues between Adams and his colleagues stretched back to 2008, though, when the federal judges -- who hire magistrate judges -- did not choose the candidate he wanted for a magistrate judge position in Akron, the decision says. That magistrate judge's position went to Benita Pearson, who is now a federal judge in Youngstown.

Adams refused to interact with Pearson or assign Pearson any work on cases on his docket, the decision states. He even refused to allow the magistrate judge to use the Akron federal courthouse's ceremonial courtroom when she was sworn in and refused to attend the ceremony, according to the decision.

He has also been hostile to other magistrate judges and refused to collaborate or attend collegial events with his colleagues on court administrative matters, the decision says.

Rulings against the judge

The special committee expanded its investigation in 2014 to see whether Adams "may be suffering from an emotional or mental disability," the decision states. The committee asked Adams to undergo a psychological exam. He refused.

In February 2016, the Judicial Council for the 6th Circuit made its findings. It publicly reprimanded Adams, again ordered him to undergo a mental health examination, said no new cases should be assigned to him for two years, said his then-current cases should be transferred other judges and said he should be subjected to scrutiny by the special committee for two years.

If Adams refused to comply, the 6th Circuit's council said, he should retire.

Adams challenged the Judicial Council's decision, arguing that the order he issued was not misconduct because it related to the merits of a court ruling. He also said the special committee did not have the power to force him to submit to a psychological examination.

The panel that ruled on Monday ruled against Adams, saying the order did constitute misconduct and that the order to be evaluated was valid because there was a reasonable basis to believe that such an examination was necessary.

However, it declined to take away cases from Adams, saying the evidence doesn't support such a steep action.

"We cannot rule out the appropriateness of such a sanction should sufficient evidence establish Judge Adams's incapacity, but we cannot base a sanction on the assumption his behavior in connection with court administrative matters would likewise adversely affect his adjudicative responsibilities," the panel's decision states.

A string of problems

This week's decision is just the latest in a series of issues the judge has faced in recent years.

The 6th Circuit removed Adams from a lawsuit filed by a group of firefighters against the city of Akron alleging discrimination in the city's promotion process. That case, along with another case he presided over involving the city, caused then-Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic to send a public letter to the judge to ask him to recuse himself from all cases involving the city.

The appeals court also removed him from presiding over a criminal case in which the defendant said he had done heroin with the judge's brother and nephew. The judge had refused to step down.

Adams also publicly reprimanded federal public defender Debra Migdal in 2011 for issuing subpoenas in a criminal case. The appeals court later admonished Adams for punishing Migdal, writing that he abused his discretion and that he "relied on clearly erroneous factual findings."