Judiciary
Name change petition by suspended and retired judge filed ‘with intent to mislead,’ court says
A former Minnesota jurist, who retired after being suspended without pay, cannot change his first name to “Judge,” according to a recent court decision. (Image from Shutterstock)
A Minnesota judge who retired after his suspension cannot change his first name to “Judge,” according to a court decision last week.
Retired Judge John P. Dehen cannot change his name to “Judge John Peter Dehen” because it would “make the administration of justice a practical mockery,” said Judge Leonardo Castro of Ramsey County in his decision.
MPR News has the story.
Dehen filed the petition for a name change in August. Castro said it was filed “in bad faith and with intent to mislead,” according to the MPR story.
Castro also refused to seal the name change petition.
Dehen retired from his position from the Tenth Judicial Circuit in Anoka County after his September suspension without pay for nine months for misconduct in two matters. The suspension carried over into a suspension from law practice.
In one instance of misconduct, Dehen presided over a juvenile court calendar while a passenger in a moving car, the Minnesota Supreme Court said in its suspension order.
In the other, Dehen twice ordered a court administrator in writs of mandamus to raise his court reporter’s pay, despite a conflict of interest, without giving the administrator a meaningful opportunity to respond.
His first order required the administrator to pay the court reporter at the highest grade level. The second, issued after an appeals court vacated the first order, required the administrator to pay the court reporter at the midpoint of the salary range.
The Minnesota Supreme Court recognized that Dehen had a good-faith belief his court reporter was being treated unfairly, but said the way he chose to resolve the dispute was “clearly wrong.”
MPR was unable to reach Dehen at three listed phone numbers. Two were out of service. MPR left a message at a third and did not hear back.
The ABA Journal left a message with Dan Rasmus, Dehen’s attorney in the ethics case, but he did not immediately reply to the voicemail. The ABA Journal also tried to contact Dehen using a phone number found online, but it was disconnected.
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