A disgraced Minnesota judge's petition to have his first name legally changed to "Judge" was denied by Ramsey County Judge Leonardo Castro, MPR News reported. The man, former Anoka County Judge John Dehen, retired from his position on Oct. 10 following a suspension from the Minnesota Supreme Court over misconduct.
Dehen filed for the name change in August, requesting that his given name be changed instead to Judge John Dehen. The case was assigned to Castro, who slammed the petition made "in bad faith and with the intent to mislead" the public.
"To permit a former district court judge, who has been suspended for abusing his position of authority, to regain the title he was stripped of, would make the administration of justice a practical mockery. The Applicant is not replacing his first name of John with Judge but is requesting that Judge be added before John so he can be addressed as 'Judge John Dehen,'" Castro said in his order.
"By using the name ‘Judge,’ the Applicant would be holding himself out as a judge, a position he held for 15 years, but no longer holds," Castro added. The judge also denied Dehen's request to keep the filing private, though his home address was redacted.
Last month, the Minnesota Supreme Court suspended Dehen for nine months and censured him after Dehen was accused of a "pattern" of prejudice, KSTP-TV reported. The recommended punishment from the state panel was originally a six-month suspension, but Minnesota’s high court felt his misconduct warranted a more severe penalty.
Some of the misdeeds Dehen was accused of included holding a remote hearing from the passenger seat of his moving vehicle, attempting to rehire his court reporter with double the salary he state allows, and injecting his opinions about illegal immigration to "influence his decisions" in guardianship cases for troubled youth.
"His actions wasted precious judicial resources and disrespected the rule of law and the administration of justice that he took an oath to uphold," the order from the Supreme Court charged. It also said Dehen "damaged the professional function of the Judicial Branch" and that he "exhibited little if any remorse" for doing so.
For his part, Dehen's testimony before the state panel included an admission that he had "poor judgment" when he decided to hold a hearing from his vehicle, but he would not budge on the guardianship decisions. Dehen claimed those were "merely an error of law" rather than ideological influences.
However, the Supreme Court disagreed, instead finding that Dehen had weaponized his official position and that the only remedy was to censure the judge. The high court said it had a duty to "fulfill our obligation to ensure that the misconduct is not repeated again, and to deter others from similar behavior."
In 2022, Dehen was disciplined privately after making threats during proceedings in a small claims lawsuit, MinneapoliMedia reported. Later, he was accused of using immigration status and lack of English proficiency while ruling on guardianship hearings.
“Just because you’re an immigrant doesn’t mean you’re eligible for an at-risk status,” Dehen told the initial panel investigating earlier this year. In at least three cases, other judges have either overturned Judge Dehen’s findings or ordered him removed entirely from at-risk juvenile cases.
Petitions in Minnesota for guardianship assignments for at-risk youth are seldom denied. In the county Dehen was presiding, he was responsible for all of them.
“He does what he wants to do and doesn’t accept disagreement,” Eric Magnuson, the former Chief Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court who anrgued the state’s case angainst Dehen, said. That hasn’t worked out so well for Dehen after all.
Dehen seems to do whatever he wants, perhaps believing that his position as judge gives him the cover to do so. Unfortunately for him, that’s not the way it works, and the judge will have to deal with the consequences of his actions.
