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State of California
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2007 STATISTICS In 20076, there were 1,660 judgeships within the commission's jurisdiction. In addition to jurisdiction over active judges, the commission has authority to impose certain discipline upon former judges. The commission's jurisdiction also includes California's 457 commissioners and referees. In addition, the Director-Chief Counsel of the commission is designated as the Supreme Court's investigator for complaints involving the eight judges of the State Bar Court. The following statistics pertain only to judges.
In 2007, 1,077 new complaints about active and former California judges were considered by the commission. The 1,077 complaints named a total of 1,328 judges (812 different judges). The complaints set forth a wide array of grievances. A substantial percentage alleged legal error not involving misconduct or expressed dissatisfaction with a judge's discretionary handling of judicial duties.
The Commission considered two complaints about State Bar Court judges in 2007. After review, it was determined that neither warranted further action. The Commission office also received over 500 complaints in 2007 concerning individuals and matters that did not come under the Commission's jurisdiction: federal judges, former judges for matters outside the Commission's jurisdiction, judges pro tem (temporary judges), workers' compensation judges, other government officials and miscellaneous individuals. Commission staff responded to each of these complaints and, when appropriate, made referrals. Staff Inquiries and Preliminary Investigations In 2007, the Commission ordered 55 staff inquiries and 54 preliminary investigations.
At the beginning of 2007, there were four formal proceedings pending before the Commission. In one of these matters (Inquiry Concerning Judge Diana R. Hall, No. 175), the Commission issued a decision in 2006, but the time for the judge to file a petition for review with the Supreme Court had not expired by the end of 2006. The Commission instituted formal proceedings in one case during 2007. In all of these cases the Commission has the authority to impose discipline, including censure and removal, subject to discretionary review by the Supreme Court upon petition by the judge. As of the end of 2007, three formal proceedings had been concluded and two formal proceedings remained pending before the Commission. In one of these matters (Inquiry Concerning Judge Robert G. Spitzer, No. 182), the Commission issued an order of removal from office in 2007, and the judge filed a petition for review of the Commission's determination, which was pending before the Supreme Court at the end of the year.
The following case disposition statistics are based on cases completed by the Commission in 2007, regardless of when the complaints were received. In 2007, a total of 1,058 cases were concluded by the Commission. The average time period from the filing of a complaint to the disposition was 2.8 months.
Closed Without Discipline In 2007, after obtaining the information necessary to evaluate the complaints, the Commission determined that there was not a sufficient showing of misconduct in 975 of the complaints. In other words, there was an absence of facts which, if true and not otherwise explained, might constitute misconduct. These complaints were closed by the Commission without staff inquiry or preliminary investigation. Following staff inquiry or preliminary investigation, another 45 matters were closed without discipline. In these cases, investigation showed that the allegations were unfounded or unprovable, or the judge gave an adequate explanation of the situation. Closed With Discipline In 2007, the Commission removed two judges from office, publicly censured one judge, and imposed five public admonishments. The Commission also issued nine private admonishments and 20 advisory letters. A chart of the types of judicial conduct which resulted in discipline in 2007 appears on page 15 of the 2007 Annual Report. The types of conduct are listed in order of prevalence. The numbers on the chart indicate the number of times each type of conduct resulted in discipline. A single act of misconduct is counted once and is assigned to the category most descriptive of the wrongdoing. If separate acts of different types of wrongdoing were involved in a single case, each different type of conduct was counted and assigned to an appropriate category. If the same type of conduct occurred on multiple occasions in a particular case, however, it was counted only once. Resignations and Retirements The Constitution authorizes the Commission to continue proceedings after a judge retires or resigns and, if warranted, to impose discipline upon the former judge. When a judge resigns or retires during proceedings, the Commission determines whether to continue or close the case and, if the case is closed, whether to refer the matter to another entity such as the State Bar. In 2007, the Commission closed one matter without discipline when the judge resigned or retired with an investigation pending.
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