The price of judicial dignity

The Supreme Court of New Jersey is holding a hearing today on whether Judge Vince Sicari has to give up the night gig because it’s undignified.

Sicari, whose stage name is Vince August, is a comedian. He often warms up the crowd of the Colbert Report before the show. He does stand-up and some TV comedy.

But he’s also a municipal court judge in Hackensack, with a state ethics board that suggests being a comedian is more of an assault on the dignity of the bench than being paid $13,000 to do the job, which apparently he does quite well.