As citizens of Western New York, and our fellow supporters across all of New York State, we are deeply concerned with the decisions of Judge Matthew Murphy III of Niagara Falls, NY. 

Christopher Belter, aged 20, who lives in a mansion with his parents in Lewiston, New York committed four accounts of rape when he was a minor to four female peers. Belter's parents allowed for underage parties to be held in their mansion and served minors alcohol and marijuana, but have never been punished for this. All four rapes occurred in the Belter mansion. 

Belter was first given parole. He failed this parole and was caught with pornography. 

Judge Matthew Murphy III of Niagara Falls, NY has allowed a dangerous person, Christopher Belter, to not serve any prison time and has given him eight years parole even though he committed four acts of violent crime and he broke his first parole. Here in western New York we have Black, Hispanic, Native American men, as well as impoverished and working class White men, who have served longer prison sentences for non violent offenses. 

We, as New Yorkers, feel Judge Matthew Murphy III is not giving due justice to survivors. 

Furthermore, Judge Matthew Murphy III put a gag order on the Buffalo News. As reported by the Buffalo News on August 31, 2021 "Judge’s nonsensical gag order violates his oath and serves no legal purpose". To quote the Buffalo News article

"Murphy had no legal standing to order news outlets, including The Buffalo News, not to publish the name of a 20-year-old rapist whose family lives in a mansion in Lewiston. But he did anyway. Judge delays sentencing in 'party house' rape case, bans publication of defendant's name. The defendant, now 20, pleaded guilty in July 2019 to third-degree rape, attempted first-degree sexual abuse and two counts of second-degree sexual abuse. The ruling wasn’t merely lawless, it was weird. The man’s name had previously been reported by Western New York news outlets, and repeatedly. The court hearing in which the judge issued his nonsensical order was open to the public, so anyone there could have spread it on social media. The name is available through online searches. But most of all, the order was an abuse of authority – the kind that gets judges overruled and sometimes disciplined." Western New York deserves better. Survivors across Western New York deserve better. Journalists deserve better. We, therefore, ask for Judge Matthew Murphy III, to be removed from the bar.