Judge who threatened deportation of truant students should be removed from bench, panel says

The New Jersey Supreme Court’s Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct has recommended the removal of suspended Bound Brook Municipal Court Judge Britt Simon, after finding that he repeatedly abused his authority by berating truant students, threatening undocumented families with deportation, and displaying conduct that irreparably undermined public confidence in the judiciary.

In a 32-page presentment, the panel determined that Simon violated multiple provisions of the Code of Judicial Conduct in three truancy cases heard in Bound Brook Municipal Court in 2024 and 2025.  The committee concluded that Simon’s conduct toward students and their parents was “hostile, threatening, and demeaning,” and included comments that created the appearance of ethnic and socioeconomic bias.

A majority of the panel found that Simon’s conduct “irreparably impugns” his integrity and impartiality and renders his continued service on the bench “untenable,” recommending that the Supreme Court institute formal proceedings to remove him from office.

Simon, who was appointed as a part-time municipal judge in Bridgewater, Somerville, and Raritan in January 2023 and in Bound Brook in January 2024, has been suspended from judicial duties since February 11, 2025.

The disciplinary case centers on three truancy matters involving children and their parents. According to court transcripts cited by the ACJC, Simon referred to one student as a “piece of garbage,” “vile,” “contemptuous,” and “disgusting,” while warning that the student’s mother could be deported by Immigration and Customs Enforcement because of the family’s appearance in court.

In another case, Simon threatened to place a student in a Newark group home, telling the child that “everything you own” would be stolen and that the student would be beaten if removed from home.  He also warned the child that ICE could deport her undocumented mother.

In a third truancy proceeding in January 2025, Simon told a 14-year-old student from El Salvador that “there’s a new sheriff in town,” suggested ICE agents were waiting outside the courtroom, and warned, “You miss another day for school, and I’m going to personally have ICE here to pick you up.”

The committee found Simon had no legitimate judicial purpose for questioning parents about their immigration status and used that information as a coercive tool to intimidate children into attending school.  The panel found Simon’s actions violated Judiciary directives limiting the collection and use of immigration information and constituted an abuse of judicial authority.

“Respondent’s overt attempts to degrade, bully, and intimidate these allegedly truant students, non-parties to the proceeding, to coerce school attendance, irreparably impaired his integrity and impartiality and that of the judicial office,” the committee wrote.

The panel also pointed to evidence that Simon viewed Bound Brook students differently from those appearing in Bridgewater Municipal Court.  The presentment cited statements attributed to Simon describing Bound Brook children as more “defiant” and noting that “Bridgewater kids are easily terrified and after a good tongue lashing, they go back to school.”  The committee said those remarks suggested bias, or at minimum the appearance of bias, against socioeconomically disadvantaged ethnic minorities.

During the disciplinary proceedings, Simon acknowledged that he “got it wrong” and recognized a judge’s obligation to act with patience, dignity, and courtesy.  But the panel found that he continued to deny ethical wrongdoing, blamed a lack of training and judicial guidance, and failed to fully accept responsibility for his conduct.

The ACJC rejected those arguments, noting that Simon had received extensive judicial ethics training after his appointment, including instruction on courtroom demeanor, professionalism, and bias.

In recommending removal, the committee cited several aggravating factors, including Simon’s threats of deportation and family separation, his treatment of unrepresented litigants and their children, what it characterized as differential treatment of poorer immigrant families, and his lack of remorse.

“Respondent’s misconduct, which includes bullying unrepresented students with threats of deportation and family separation,” revealed “a stark lack of integrity and probity” and demonstrated unfitness for judicial office, the committee wrote.

The recommendation was not unanimous.  Two committee members, Hector Velazquez and Ricardo Solano, Jr., agreed that Simon violated the judicial code but argued that a lengthy unpaid suspension, combined with mandatory training on bias and harassment, would be sufficient discipline.

A third member, Robert Zane, said Simon should receive a public censure rather than be removed from office.

The majority decision was written by ACJC Chair Carmen Messano, a former judge, and supported by Georgia Curio, Diana C. Manning, Emily Kaller, Judith H. Germano, Paul Walker, Katherine Carter, and Peter McDonough, Jr.

The New Jersey Supreme Court will make the final decision on removing Simon from the bench.