Judge Young suspended for rest of term

Aug. 1—The Tennessee Administration Office of Courts has taken the rare move to suspend a sitting jurist — Judge Jonathan Young — for 30 days, from Aug. 1-31.

The order strips him of all his judicial power and authority through the remainder of his term in office.

The Office also states in its order it will refer documents from its investigation into three complaints against Young to the Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility of the Supreme Court. That board will determine if further action "may be appropriate," and could result in Young losing his license to practice law.

Young has taken issue with the action and, in a social media post, states his attorney has advised him to file suit against the Office to "protect my rights and the rights of every judge out there."

Young did not elaborate on whether he was considering taking that course of action.

Young said he was "more shocked by this than anyone" in the same social media post and alluded to his belief that his First Amendment rights were under attack.

Young is a Circuit Court judge in the 13th Judicial Circuit that includes Cumberland, Clay, DeKalb, Overton, Pickett, Putnam and White counties.

The action was based on complaints received from two sources — attorneys for a pharmaceutical company whose multi-million-dollar lawsuit had previously been assigned to Young's court, and a complaint about misconduct while handling an adoption case.

Attorneys for Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Endo Health Solutions Inc. contend in their complaint that the judge made social media posts and conducted an interview with a national media outlet on the case pending in his court.

"The complaint correctly notes the Court of Appeals found that by engaging in the extra-judicial conduct, Judge Young positioned himself publicly as an interested community advocate and voice for change in the larger societal controversy over opioids rather than an impartial adjudicator presiding over litigation," the Administration Office of Courts wrote.

Young's removal from that case "was necessary to protect public confidence in the judiciary," the Office's order continued.

The Endo complaint further alleges that "rather than heeding the Court of Appeal's conclusions regarding his extra-judicial activities, Judge Young continued his public media campaign by conducting additional interviews about the pending case with local and national publications and additional social media posts."

The complaint continued, "The judge's actions risked tainting the jury pool in the ongoing case."

Endo claims Young submitted an initial response to their complaint in a letter dated May 16, 2022.

According to the Administration Office of Courts order, "Rather than take responsibility for the extra-judicial conduct that led to his removal from the case and disruption to the orderly administration of justice caused by his conduct, Judge Young blamed the parties and their lawyers and attempted to portray himself as a victim."

On June 14, an Office investigative panel found probable cause and authorized a full investigation into the complaints against Young.

In a letter from the Administration Office of Courts dated June 21, Young was advised his conduct "implicated" him of violations of state law governing the conduct of judges.

That notice gave Young 14 days to respond in writing to the notice. In its latest order, the Office notes it did not receive a response from Young.

In his social media comments posted on Facebook Friday morning, Young claims, "Yesterday I made the paper again, the last time I made the paper I admitted to my mistakes. However this time, I come confessing no fault whatsoever."

The judge continued, "In fact, I was probably more shocked by this than anyone. The first reason is that I did absolutely nothing wrong. Second is my attorneys had spoke to Mr. Marshall Davidson [head of the Office] and had an extension until August 1 to file a complete response. As you can see, he neither called me nor my attorneys to tell me anything has changed. Apparently the fix was in or something."

The second complaint scores the judge's conduct during the handling of an adoption case that filed March 29.

Chelsey Hoover and Michael Hoover filed separate complaints, claiming Young "initiated communications with Mrs. Hoover ranging from flirtation to sexual before, during and after she and Mr. Hoover were parties in an adoption case."

Mrs. Hoover claimed Young requested "explicit pictures from her and also met with her on multiple occasions outside of court, including a hotel in Cooke-ville on or about April 28, where they had sex."

The complaint also claims Young suggested Mrs. Hoover use an app on her phone that would automatically delete their electronic communications.

At the April 28 hotel encounter, the complaint further states Mrs. Hoover presented Young with legal documents in an unrelated custody matter in another court in his district, and that Young provided her advice about her custody case, including how to get the judge handling the case disqualified and how to replace her attorney.

Mr. Hoover claimed that Young failed to disclose to him the hotel meeting, the physical relationship with his wife, or the contact outside the court with his wife during the adoption proceedings.

Young failed to remove himself from the case and, instead, granted the adoption petition on April 8.

Referencing, without naming, the Hoover complaint, Young wrote on Facebook, "... it seems a troubled man has been taken advantage of and weaponized by some in power to blame his marital issues on me because I presided over an adoption. While I certainly feel bad for this man, our response would have proven my complete innocence once again.

"However, as before I was denied my chances to argue."

Young claims in his post that his attorney was orally given an extension to respond to the complaint but for unknown reasons, the Office issued its findings without honoring that agreement.

Young's actions led to "safety and security concerns for law enforcement officials and court employees. At one point, court staff were sent home and an order was entered by the Presiding Judge of the district on May 27 closing Judge Young's court for the day."

The state's Administration Office of Courts investigative panel on July 22 found "reasonable cause to believe Judge Young committed the misconduct described" in both motions.

Young was defeated in the May Republican Primary by Assistant District Attorney Caroline Knight. His term of office ends Aug. 31.

"Under normal circumstances, this finding would result in the filing of formal charges" under state law, the investigative panel's summation stated. However, once Young leaves office, he will no longer be under the Office's jurisdiction.

"As a result, this order and all pertinent documents will be provided to the Board of Professional Responsibility to determine its direction, what further action may be appropriate after Aug. 31."

Young concluded his post by stating, "Just know one thing I will never give up fighting for Justice even if it is the rich, powerful, corrupt politicians and opioid manufacturers. It saddens me to know the system that I have dedicated my life protecting has been lowered to this level."

The full order can be found at https://rb.gy/yikmua/.

Michael Moser may be reached at mmoser@crossville-chronicle.com