Active & Former Judges – Statistics
New Complaints
In 2022, the commission considered 1,414 new complaints about active and former California judges. The 1,414 complaints named 1,005 judges (a total of 863 different judges).
2022 Caseload – Active & Former Judges
Discrepancies in totals are due to consolidated complaints/dispositions.
Staff Inquiries and Preliminary Investigations
In 2022, the commission ordered 6 staff inquiries and 114 preliminary investigations.
Formal Proceedings
At the beginning of 2022, there was one formal proceedings pending before the commission, which concluded in 2022. The commission instituted one formal proceedings in 2022, which remained pending before the commission.
Formal Proceedings
Deferral of Investigation
The commission may defer an investigation under certain circumstances. At the beginning of 2022, 29 pending matters had been deferred. The commission ordered 45 matters deferred during 2022. Seven matters were returned to the commission’s active calendar, and were considered and concluded by the commission in 2022. Twenty-one matters were returned to the active calendar and remained pending before the commission at the end of 2022. Forty-six matters remained deferred at the end of the year.
Reasons Investigations were deferred in 2022
Complaint Dispositions
The following case disposition statistics are based on cases completed by the commission in 2022, regardless of when the complaints were received. (Staff inquiries and preliminary investigations in the cases closed in 2022 may have commenced in prior years. Cases or portions of cases that were pending at the end of 2022 are not included in complaint disposition statistics for 2022.)
In 2022, the commission concluded a total of 1,384 cases. The average time period from the filing of a complaint to the disposition was 3.06 months. See chart of Complaint Dispositions for all cases completed by the commission in 2022.
Type of Court Case Underlying Complaints
Concluded in 2022
3% of the complaints did not arise out of court cases. These complaints concerned off-bench conduct, such as the handling of court administration and political activity.
Source of Complaints Concluded in 2022
Cases Closed Without Discipline
In 2022, after obtaining the information necessary to evaluate the complaints, the commission determined that there was not a sufficient showing of misconduct in 1,294 of the complaints. In other words, there was an absence of facts which, if true and not otherwise explained, might constitute misconduct. A substantial percentage alleged legal error not involving misconduct or expressed dissatisfaction with a judge’s decision. The commission closed these complaints without staff inquiry or preliminary investigation.
Following staff inquiry or preliminary investigation, the commission closed another 59 matters without discipline. In these cases, investigation showed that the allegations were unfounded or unprovable, or the judge gave an adequate explanation of the situation.
Cases Closed With Discipline
In 2022, the commission publicly censured one judge, and imposed three public admonishments. The commission also issued five private admonishments and twenty advisory letters. See Public Discipline & Decisions and Private Discipline Summaries. Discipline has been categorized according to the Types of Misconduct. A chart of the Types of Conduct Resulting in Discipline indicates the number of times specific types of misconduct resulted in discipline in 2022.
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 2022, the commission closed two matters without discipline when the judge resigned or retired with an investigation pending.
10-Year Summary of Commission Activity
The 10-Year Summary of Commission Activity chart provides statistics on case actions by the commission over the last 10 years.