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In re Complaint of Judicial Misconduct

United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
Oct 26, 2009
No. 08-90203 (9th Cir. Oct. 26, 2009)

Opinion


IN RE COMPLAINT OF JUDICIAL MISCONDUCT No. 08-90203 United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit October 26, 2009

ORDER

KOZINSKI, Chief Judge

Complainant alleges that the district judge assigned to his civil case improperly dismissed him from the case. This charge relates directly to the merits of the judge's rulings and must therefore be dismissed. See 28 U.S.C. § 352(b)(1)(A)(ii); Judicial-Conduct Rule 11(c)(1)(B). A misconduct complaint is not a proper vehicle for challenging a judge's decisions on the merits. See In re Charge of Judicial Misconduct, 685 F.2d 1226, 1227 (9th Cir. Jud. Council 1982).

Complainant also alleges that the judge ignored the fact that court staff lost unspecified documents. But complainant hasn't provided any objectively verifiable proof (for example, names of witnesses, confirmed documents or transcripts) to support this allegation. See In re Complaint of Judicial Misconduct, 569 F.3d 1093, 1093 (9th Cir. Jud. Council 2009). Because there is no evidence that misconduct occurred, this charge must be dismissed. See 28 U.S.C. § 352(b)(1)(A)(iii); Judicial-Conduct Rule 11(c)(1)(D).

To the extent complainant raises allegations against court staff, the charges must be dismissed because this misconduct complaint procedure applies only to federal judges. See Judicial-Conduct Rule 4.

DISMISSED.


Summaries of

In re Complaint of Judicial Misconduct

United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
Oct 26, 2009
No. 08-90203 (9th Cir. Oct. 26, 2009)
Case details for

In re Complaint of Judicial Misconduct

Case Details

Full title:IN RE COMPLAINT OF JUDICIAL MISCONDUCT

Court:United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit

Date published: Oct 26, 2009

Citations

No. 08-90203 (9th Cir. Oct. 26, 2009)