Complaint Against Judge Has Broader Ramifications
Fair Courts E-lert
Bibliographic Info:
Author: Henry Weinstein
Source: Los Angeles Times
Date: 5/7/2006
Article reports that a new ruling by the Judicial Conference of the United States may bolster a Congressional proposal to create a watchdog over judicial misconduct. In 2003 an attorney filed a judicial misconduct complaint against Los Angeles federal Judge Manuel Real, alleging that he had improperly seized a bankruptcy case from another judge in order to aid a woman whose probation he was overseeing. In a 3-2 decision the federal judicial discipline committee ruled that it did not have the power to sanction Judge Real because the Chief Judge of the 9th Circuit had improperly investigated the complaint. Federal appeals Judge Ralph Winter wrote a dissenting opinion, warning that allowing judges to police themselves _[s]uffers from the weakness that many observers will be suspicious that complainants against judges will be disfavored. The committee_s decision in this case can only fuel such suspicions._