Commission censures ex-judge who lost attorney general bid

The unsuccessful Republican nominee for California attorney general last year has been barred from serving on the bench or working with any state court.

California's Commission on Judicial Performance has censured former El Dorado County judge Steven Bailey.

The commissioners say Bailey "engaged in a broad spectrum of misconduct on and off the bench spanning the entire course of his career."

That includes improperly accepting gifts, steering business to a firm where his son worked, and using his judicial position to aid his political campaign. Commissioners say that using his position to help his campaign impugned the judiciary's independence, impartiality, and integrity.

Bailey called the decision "a political hit by a Democrat-dominated commission designed to damage me politically."

He served as judge from 2009 through August 2017.