Yellowstone County Judge Ashley Harada will be suspended for 30 days starting May 1 for ethical violations.
The month-long suspension will give Harada “a period of reflection and refocus upon the ultimate principles of honesty, respect, and decency,” according to a Montana Supreme Court decree handed down Friday.
Harada is a Havre High School and Montana State University-Northern graduate.
The Montana Judicial Standards Commission and Special Prosecutor Ed McLean, a retired district court judge, recommended a less serious punishment for Harada. He proposed, and she agreed to, a formal censure in which she would have been called before the Supreme Court and verbally reprimanded for her misconduct.
But other Yellowstone County judges asked the court to impose stronger disciplinary measures.
In an opinion written by Chief Justice Mike McGrath, the Supreme Court said, “We give careful deference to the work of the Commission in reviewing cases of judicial misconduct.”
But it said the court has the ultimate responsibility for determining the proper sanction.
The Supreme Court decision was unanimous, although Associate Justice Ingrid Gustafson did not take part in the deliberations.
Among the allegations against Harada is that she violated Montana’s nonpartisan election rules by displaying support for her 2018 campaign from Yellowstone County Republicans, a Republican state House candidate, and a Libertarian congressional candidate on her Facebook page.
Harada said she thought she was complying with American Bar Association rules by placing her Facebook settings on private. Montana judicial standards forbid such endorsements even on private Facebook pages.
She also was accused of supporting Republican candidates for political office, lying about a former employee when giving a negative reference for that person to the University of Montana Law School, and misleading voters during her campaign by saying she had been involved in 80 jury trials when she had not.
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