Complaints Against Judges — Judicial Business 2019

Under the Judicial Conduct and Disability Act, 28 U.S.C. §§ 351-364, any person alleging that a judge has engaged in conduct prejudicial to the effective and expeditious administration of the business of the courts, or that a judge cannot discharge all the duties of the office because of physical or mental disability, may file a complaint with the clerk of the court of appeals for the circuit in which the judge holds office or, if the judge serves on a national court, with the office specified in that court’s rules. The complaint must concern the actions or capacity of a circuit judge, a district judge, a bankruptcy judge, a magistrate judge, or a judge of a court specified in 28 U.S.C. § 363.

The number of complaints filed in 2019 was 1,412, an increase of 51 complaints (up 4 percent) from the number filed in 2018. The number of complainants totaled 1,459, as some of the complaints involved more than one complainant. Litigants accounted for 51 percent of complainants, and prison inmates accounted for 38 percent. Forty-eight percent of the complaints were made against district judges, 30 percent were against circuit judges, 17 percent were against magistrate judges, and 3 percent were against bankruptcy judges. Forty-six percent of the complaints originated in four circuits: the Ninth Circuit (180 complaints), Eleventh Circuit (163 complaints), Fifth Circuit (159 complaints), and Tenth Circuit (143 complaints). The categories of allegations associated with the most complaints were erroneous decision (1,132), other misconduct (371), personal bias against the litigant or attorney (316), and violation of other standards (204).

Chief judges dismissed 1,011 complaints in whole or in part. This total includes complaints that later were terminated with finality by circuit judicial council orders on petitions for review, as well as complaints for which additional review was still possible. Frequently cited reasons for dismissal included the following: the complaint was directly related to the merits of decisions (844), the allegations lacked sufficient evidence (687), and the allegations were frivolous (196).

Of the complaints filed in 2018 or pending from previous years, 1,066 were terminated by final action. Chief judges terminated 432 complaints, 403 of them by dismissal and 29 by informal resolution, voluntary resolution, or intervening events. Circuit judicial councils terminated 547 complaints, 11 of them after reports by special investigating committees were issued. Seven complaints were terminated because the complainants withdrew them after filing the initial complaints. Pending complaints decreased by 6 percent to 632.

For information on complaints filed against judges, see Table 10 and Table S-22.