Fix the Court's Guide to Filing Complaints Against Federal Judges
By Emma Donahue, FTC law clerk
A recent article by Stetson Law Prof. Nino Monea on the difficulty of punishing federal judges under the current misconduct rubric also mentions how hard it is for members of the public to figure out how to file a complaint.
That’s true — and it’s something worth fixing.
Potential complainants are implicitly discouraged to file by the combination of federal rules, local rules and outdated court websites, and they’re explicitly discouraged by the language on many of those sites, i.e., “almost all complaints in recent years have been dismissed because they do not follow the law about such complaints.”
Yes, about 98 or 99% of complaints are rejected each year, mainly because the vast majority are filed by individuals who’ve lost their case and are upset with the judge, and losing a case is not grounds for discipline under federal law.
What are the grounds? Engaging in “conduct prejudicial to the effective and expeditious administration of the business of the courts, or alleging that such judge is unable to discharge all the duties of office by reason of mental or physical disability,” per the law, though we’d also add that most violations of the Code of Conduct for U.S. Judges constitute misconduct that’s worth filing a complaint over — whether abusive behavior, corruption, negligence, displaying bias toward or against a party or other behavior unbecoming of a judge (you know it when you see it).
Since the law permits anyone to file a complaint (FTC has filed several, with varying results), the process shouldn’t be hard to understand.
Below, we go court by court, circuit by circuit, and explain how and where to file complaints.
First, some overarching thoughts. All circuits will accept a complaint filed via this form, though don’t forgot to type the name of the circuit where you’re filing at the top of the page, and it’s worth familiarizing yourself with the Rules for Judicial-Conduct and Judicial Disability Proceedings.
Most importantly, one must file a complaint with the circuit clerk or circuit executive in the jurisdiction where the subject judge holds office — so a complaint about a U.S. district court or bankruptcy court judge must be filed in the circuit that it’s a part of — and complaints must be signed and verified under penalty of perjury.
Most circuits have supplemental local rules with additional filing specifications, like how many copies must be submitted, page limits, allowance of supplemental materials and filing method. Complaints should include your “statement of facts” — a statement of what occurred that you believe constitutes misconduct, and it should be dry and short (we recommend under two pages).
In almost all cases, you’re going to have to mail in your complaint. We provide addresses below. Remember: do not put the name of the judge you’re complaining about on the envelope, and under federal law, there’s no way to file a complaint against a Supreme Court justice, so the information below covers the approximately 2,400 lower court judges.
First Circuit (includes D. Maine, D. Massachusetts, D. New Hampshire, D. Rhode Island and D. Puerto Rico)
To file: Mail one copy to the clerk, Anastasia Dubrosky, at the First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, John Joseph Moakley U.S. Courthouse, 1 Courthouse Way, Suite 2500, Boston, MA, 02210
Complaints page: Includes language that discourages filing, i.e., “Almost all complaints in recent years have been dismissed…”
Local rules: Nothing that’s First Circuit-specific
Second Circuit (includes D. Connecticut, E.D. New York, N.D. New York, S.D. New York, W.D. New York and D. Vermont)
To file: Mail specified number of copies (see below) to the clerk, Catherine O’Hagan Wolfe, Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, Thurgood Marshall U.S. Courthouse, 40 Foley Square New York, NY, 10007
Complaints page: Includes language that discourages filing, i.e., “Almost all complaints in recent years have been dismissed…”
Local rules: Original and three copies of complaint must be filed if subject judge is a court of appeals judge; original and four copies if district or magistrate judge; and original and five copies if bankruptcy judge. Five-page limit for statement of facts (five total sides)
Third Circuit (includes D. Delaware, D. New Jersey, E.D. Pennsylvania, M.D. Pennsylvania, W.D. Pennsylvania and D. Virgin Islands)
To file: Mail one copy to the circuit executive, Margaret Wiegand, at the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, 22409 U.S. Courthouse, 601 Market St., Philadelphia, PA, 19106-1790
Local rules: Complaint should not exceed five singled-sided, double-spaced pages
Fourth Circuit (includes D. Maryland, E.D. North Carolina, M.D. North Carolina, W.D. North Carolina, D. South Carolina, E.D. Virginia, W.D. Virginia, N.D. West Virginia and S.D. West Virginia)
To file: Mail one copy to the clerk, Nwamaka Anowi, at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, 1100 E. Main St., Ste. 501, Richmond, VA, 23219-3517, or email PDF complaint to 4CCA-JudicialComplaints@ca4@uscourts.gov
Complaints page: Includes language that discourages filing, i.e., “Almost all complaints in recent years have been dismissed…”
Local rules: Statement of facts must not exceed five pages single-sided and must be submitted on standard 8.5-by-11 paper. Allegations made in exhibits will not be considered; all allegations must be made in the statement of facts. Documents supporting the allegations that are specifically referred to in the statement of facts may be filed with the complaint
Fifth Circuit (includes E.D. Louisiana, M.D. Louisiana, W.D. Louisiana, N.D. Mississippi, S.D. Mississippi, E.D. Texas, N.D. Texas, S.D. Texas and W.D. Texas)
To file: Mail one copy to the clerk, Lyle Cayce, at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, 600 S. Maestri Pl., New Orleans, LA, 70130
Complaints page: Includes language that discourages filing, i.e., “Almost all complaints in recent years have been dismissed…”
Local rules: Allegations made in exhibits or attachments will not be considered; all allegations must be made in the statement of facts. Documents supporting the allegations that are specifically referred to in the statement of facts may be filed with the complaint. The statement of facts should be limited to five single-sided and double-spaced pages on 8.5- x 11-inch paper, whether typed or handwritten. Font size must be at least 12-point. All complainants must sign with a wet signature
Sixth Circuit (includes E.D. Kentucky, W.D. Kentucky, E.D. Michigan, W.D. Michigan, N.D. Ohio, S.D. Ohio, E.D. Tennessee, M.D. Tennessee and W.D. Tennessee)
To file: Mail specified number of copies (see below) to the circuit executive, Marc Theriault, at the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, Office of the Circuit Executive, 503 Potter Stewart U.S. Courthouse, 100 E. Fifth St., Cincinnati, OH, 45202
Local rules: Statement of facts should not exceed five pages (five total sides) on normal-sized paper. Documents supporting the allegations that are specifically referred to in the statement of facts may be filed with the complaint. If the complaint is about a single judge of the court of appeals, file three copies of the complaint; if it is about a single district judge or magistrate judge, four copies; if about a single bankruptcy judge, five copies. If the complaint is about more than one judge, enough copies must be filed to provide one for the circuit executive, one for the chief judge of the circuit, one for each judge complained about and one for each judge to whom the circuit executive must send a copy under rule 3(a)(2)
Seventh Circuit (includes C.D. Illinois, N.D. Illinois, S.D. Illinois, N.D. Indiana, S.D. Indiana, E.D. Wisconsin and W.D. Wisconsin)
To file: Mail one copy to the clerk at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, Everett McKinley Dirksen U.S. Courthouse, 219 S. Dearborn St., Room 2722, Chicago, IL, 60604
Complaints page: Includes language that discourages filing, i.e., “Almost all complaints in recent years have been dismissed…”
Local rules: None provided
Eighth Circuit (includes E.D. Arkansas, W.D. Arkansas, N.D. Iowa, S.D. Iowa, D. Minnesota, E.D. Missouri, W.D. Missouri, D. Nebraska, D. North Dakota and D. South Dakota)
To file: Mail one copy to the clerk, Susan Bindler, at the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, 111 S. 10th St., Rm. 24.329, St. Louis, MO, 63102
Local rules: Statement of facts should not exceed five pages. Documents supporting the allegations that are specifically referred to in the statement of facts may be filed with the complaint
Ninth Circuit (includes D. Alaska, D. Arizona, C.D. California, E.D. California, N.D. California, S.D. California, D. Hawaii, D. Idaho, D. Montana, D. Nevada, D. Oregon, E.D. Washington, W.D. Washington, D. Guam and D. Northern Mariana Islands)
To file: Mail one copy to the Circuit Executive at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, Office of the Circuit Executive, P.O. Box 193939, San Francisco, CA, 94119-3939
Complaints page: Includes language that discourages filing, i.e., “Almost all complaints in recent years have been dismissed…”
Local rules: Identify all subject judges on the first page of complaint. Statement of facts must be no longer than five standard 8.5 x 11 inch, single-sided, double-spaced pages. If typed, the font must be at least 12-point. Supplemental exhibits and attachments to your complaint are strongly discouraged. If you submit supplemental documents, they must not exceed five pages, and your statement of facts must reference specific page numbers or portions of the supporting documents
Tenth Circuit (includes D. Colorado, D. Kansas, D. New Mexico, E.D. Oklahoma, N.D. Oklahoma, W.D. Oklahoma, D. Utah and D. Wyoming)
To file: Mail one copy to the circuit executive, Leslee Fathallah, at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, Byron White U.S. Courthouse, 1823 Stout St., Denver, CO, 80257
Complaints page: Includes language that discourages filing, i.e., “The great majority of complaints in recent years have been dismissed because they simple do not comply with the law”
Local rules: Statement of facts should not exceed five pages. May include only supporting documentation that is required to support the specific facts alleged
Eleventh Circuit (includes N.D. Alabama, M.D. Alabama, S.D. Alabama, N.D. Florida, M.D. Florida, S.D. Florida, N.D. Georgia, M.D. Georgia and S.D. Georgia)
To file: Mail one copy to the clerk, David Smith, at the Eleventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, 56 Forsyth St. NW, Atlanta, GA, 30303, or email PDF complaint to Judicial_Complaints@ca11.uscourts.gov
Local rules: Statement of facts should not exceed five pages, 8.5- x 11-inch paper, single-sided, double-spaced text except for quotations more than two lines long, headings and footnotes may be single-spaced, margins should be at least one inch on all four sides, page numbers may appear in the margins but no text should appear there. If typed, either a proportionally spaced or monospaced typeface may be used: a proportionally spaced typeface should be 14-point or larger, a monospaced typeface should not contain more than 10.5 characters per inch. Documents supporting the allegations that are specifically referred to in the statement of facts may be filed with the complaint
D.C. Circuit (includes D. District of Columbia)
To file: Mail one copy to the circuit executive, Spencer Hallett, at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, 333 Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, DC, 20001
Local rules: Statement of facts should not exceed five pages (single-sided pages). Documents supporting the allegations that are specifically referred to in the statement of facts may be filed with the complaint
Federal Circuit
To file: Mail one copy to the clerk, Jarrett Perlow, at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, 717 Madison Pl NW, Washington, DC, 20439
Complaints page: Includes language that discourages filing, i.e., “Many complaints are dismissed because they pertain to the merits of a case or because the complaint is frivolous or lacking sufficient evidence . . .”
Local rules: None provided.
Court of International Trade
To file: Mail one copy to the clerk, Gina Justice, at the U.S. Court of International Trade, One Federal Plaza, New York, NY, 10278-0001
Local rules: None provided
Court of Federal Claims
To file: Mail one copy to the clerk, Lisa Reyes, at the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, 717 Madison Pl. NW, Washington, DC, 20439
Complaints page: Includes language that discourages filing, i.e., “Almost all complaints filed in this court in recent years have been dismissed…”
Local rules: None provided
Court of Appeals for Veteran Claims
To file: Mail one copy of complaint to the clerk at U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, 625 Indiana Ave. NW, Ste. 900, Washington, DC, 20004-2950, or email the completed form to efiling@uscourts.cavc.gov
Local rules: Complete complaint form and include a statement of facts, which should not exceed five pages and must be submitted on standard 8.5-by-11 paper with a minimum font size of 12 point. Documents supporting the allegations that are specifically referred to in the statement of facts may be filed with the complaint, but the complaint cannot exceed 15 total pages
