Judge's affair with bailiff leads to ethics charges

A state ethics panel has accused a New Jersey judge of having an affair with a court worker who apparently attempted suicide when it ended.

Jersey City Municipal Court Judge Wilson J. Campbell -- who was a replacement for one of several judges accused of ticket fixing -- had an "intimate relationship" for at least two months with a bailiff assigned to his courtroom, according to a complaint made public today by the state Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct.

Once the liaisons ended, it says, the court worker took a drug overdose. She later explained that she was upset over the breakup, the complaint says.

Soon after, Campbell met with his superiors and admitted to the affair. Meanwhile, the bailiff was assigned to another courtroom.

Although he wasn't the woman's supervisor, Campbell had supervisory control over her. As such, the relationship violated state codes of conduct, the panel said.

Campbell, 38, is an associate with Sedgwick Detert Moran & Arnold in Newark. He has worked as assistant counsel for the U.S Navy and Air Force Reserves, and has been an assistant attorney general for the Virgin Islands, records show.