Panel recommends public reprimand for Nome judge
By Diana Haecker
Nome’s Superior Court Judge Romano DiBenedetto is facing a public reprimand after the Alaska Commission on Judicial Conduct found probable cause that his conduct violated canons dealing with proper judicial behavior.
While the commission investigated the complaints lodged against DiBenedetto, he has been on paid administrative leave since March 8, with other judges sharing the workload in his absence.
On July 3, the Alaska Commission on Judicial Conduct recommended to the Alaska Supreme Court a public reprimand, the least severe of consequences.
According to commission documents, two incidents brought about complaints.
On January 8, 2025 Judge DiBenedetto was to preside over a hearing in Unalakleet, which was set after normal work hours. The hearing was delayed over an hour “due to the fact that he was watching a televised sports event,” the commission found. The judge then explained the delay “due to getting lost.” The commission found that this violated canons by “creating the appearance that the court matter did not take precedence over a personal activity.”
A second incident dealt with conduct outside of the courtroom, but in presence of court staff.
“Judge DiBenedetto on more than one occasion discussed testimony occurring in his courtroom,” the commission wrote. “In the course of doing so, he occasionally attempted to reenact the testimony or comments of participants in judicial proceedings, including persons who are part of ethnic groups other than his own.”
According to the findings of fact in the commission’s file, the judge was “unaware that persons hearing these reenactments would interpret them as demonstrating a lack of discretion and as undermining confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary.”
After an investigation and several meetings, including a special meeting with the judge and his counsel, the commission issued their findings and recommendation.
According to commission’s file, DiBenedetto did not contest the recommendation and waived his right to a probable cause determination and formal disciplinary hearing.
Executive Director of the commission Marla Greenstein said in an email to the Nugget that “a public reprimand is considered a ‘baseline sanction’ for judicial discipline.” A public reprimand or public censure is the least severe of the sanctions that the Supreme Court can impose, she said.
The Supreme Court now can reject the commission’s recommendation or follow it. Greenstein explained that, at times, the Alaska Supreme Court has issued the public reprimand as a written court order accompanying a written decision. Or, in the past, the Alaska Supreme Court has asked the judge to appear in front of the court for the reprimand to be read in a court proceeding.
More severe sanctions would be suspension without pay or removal from office.
It is now up to the court system to decide what form the public reprimand will take and when DiBenedetto will return to the bench.
Rebecca Koford, public information officer with the Alaska Court System said the goals of a public reprimand are to deter further misconduct by the disciplined judge and other judges, to inform the public about judicial misconduct and to provide public accountability for actions.
While there is no “probation” in the disciplinary process, once a judge has received a baseline sanction of a public reprimand or public censure, any additional misconduct that would warrant public discipline will likely be a sanction greater than that baseline, Greenstein said.
In a letter to the commission, Kawerak CEO Melanie Bahnke called for DiBenedetto’s resignation.
She provided context in describing several incidents in which the criminal and judicial system in this region has failed tribal members over decades.
These included the murder of Sonya Ivanoff at the hands of a police officer, the failure of Nome police to investigate sexual assaults and the public censure of DiBenedetto’s predecessor Tim Dooley, who also was censured for biased and inappropriate remarks from the bench.
“Because our region is 75% Alaska Native, the logical assumption is that the judge was mocking Alaska Natives,” she wrote. “Judge DiBenedetto’s racist conduct has continued to perpetuate the notion that the criminal and justice systems are designed to work against minority populations in the Second Judicial District, where there is no room for even the slightest perception of continued racial bias or incompetence.”
Bahnke said if the judge does not accept that he has damaged the court’s reputation beyond his ability to redeem it, and does not resign, “I strongly urge the Alaska Supreme Court to carry out its responsibility to the citizens of the State of Alaska and dismiss him. Allowing him to continue to serve in a position of authority over ethnic minorities he has disparaged would be a miscarriage of justice.”
DiBenedetto was appointed to the Nome Superior Court in February 2017 by Governor Bill Walker.