The cost of integrity
The house of justice is cracking from the top down.
Just weeks after Supreme Court Justice Anna Barbara Hantz Marconi pleaded no contest to criminal solicitation of misuse of position — paying a mere $1,200 fine for using her power to pressure the governor — another scandal is shaking New Hampshire’s judiciary. NHPR uncovered that Chief Justice Gordon MacDonald allegedly helped longtime ally Dianne Martin engineer a 48-hour “layoff” so she could cash out nearly $50,000 in benefits before being rehired to another six-figure position. All while the Judicial Branch was under a hiring freeze and warning of layoffs.
Now, the state’s Attorney General’s Office is quietly preparing to investigate the Judicial Branch itself. The move, still unannounced publicly, has effectively frozen every case involving the Attorney General’s Office — which is nearly every criminal and civil case in the state. Prosecutors, victims, and defendants alike are now caught in the crossfire of a constitutional crisis. Courtrooms sit idle, dockets are stalled, and justice — already discounted — is officially on backorder.
This is no longer about one corrupt judge or one sweetheart payout. It’s about the implosion of faith in the very system that’s supposed to uphold it. The AG investigating the courts means the watchdog is now peering into the kennel — and everyone’s holding their breath to see what bites back.
Greed and privilege have turned the state’s highest court into its biggest liability. Justice may not be blind anymore, but in New Hampshire, she’s definitely out to lunch.