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Complaints Against Judges Declined in FY 2005

March 21, 2006 — Federal law allows any person to file a complaint alleging that a federal circuit judge, district judge or magistrate judge did something prejudicial to the effective and expeditious administration of the business of the courts, or alleging that the judge cannot discharge all duties of the office because of physical or mental disability.

The complaint is to be filed with the clerk of the court of appeals for that circuit or the clerk of the applicable national court. A single complaint may involve multiple allegations against numerous judges.

The number of judicial complaints filed in fiscal year 2005 - the 12 months ending September 30, 2005 - fell 18 percent to 642. The number of complaints reaching final resolution declined 19 percent to 667. Because the number of complaints resolved outnumbered those filed, pending judicial complaints decreased 12 percent, to 187.

In FY 2005, the allegations cited most often were prejudice/bias, abuse of judicial power, and "other." Of the 667 complaints resolved, chief judges dismissed 400, and judicial councils dismissed the other 267.

Of the complaints dismissed by chief judges, 80 percent were found not to be covered by the relevant federal law (28 U.S.C. 351-364) because they were directly related to the merits of the decisions or to procedural rulings issued by the complained-about judges. The remaining complaints were dismissed because they did not conform with the law, were frivolous, appropriate action already had been taken, action was no longer necessary, or the complaints had been withdrawn.

Table 11 (pdf) and Supplemental Table S-22 (pdf) of Judicial Business of the United States Courts summarize judicial complaints activity from 2003 through 2005.