Fix the Court today is praising the work of Rep. Scott Fitzgerald for introducing a nonpartisan bill to modernize the judicial misconduct process in the lower federal courts.

His Judicial Conduct and Disability Reform Act (H.R.10390; text here) would reduce inherent conflicts in the process, permit judicial review of suspension orders and ensure that “stealth impeachments” are a thing of the past, among other valuable provisions.

Most importantly, the bill would limit the length of “temporary” suspensions of judges permitted under the Judicial Conduct and Disability Act (28 U.S.C. 354(a)(2)(A)(i)) to two years. After that point, a subject judge would be reinstated, though the complaint record would ultimately be sent to the House to decide whether to proceed with impeachment.

Federal Circuit Judge Pauline Newman has been unjustly suspended for more than three years, a punishment inconsistent with both the Constitution and the JCDA’s remedial purposes. And whether or not one believes she committed misconduct, the fact that the complaint has been reviewed by judges within the Federal Circuit is a travesty.

That brings us to the second key provision of the Rep. Fitzgerald (below right) legislation: it requires a chief circuit judge to request a transfer from the Chief Justice if a complaint against a circuit judge survives initial review.

In other words, before Federal Circuit Chief Judge Moore convened an in-circuit special committee, as occurred in the Judge Newman context, she would’ve had to ask Chief Justice Roberts to transfer the complaint to another circuit, which we believe he’d grant 99 out of 100 times.

In fact, all other complaints against circuit judges over the years that advanced beyond an initial review have been transferred out of the home circuit.

Third, the bill permits the JC&D Committee to offer de novo review of a complaint — which would have been helpful in the Judge Ross scandal — whereas currently, the Committee can only review what’s termed “abuse of discretion.” In practice, this means it can do little beyond rubber-stamping the judicial council’s judgment, which is exactly what happened with the Judge Ross non-punishment.

Fourth, the bill gives suspended judges the opportunity to present constitutional challenges to their suspension in federal court. Currently, suspensions are non-justiciable, which we see as unfair and believe is the reason Judge Newman’s cert. petition concerning her suspension was denied in June.

Fifth, the bill increases notification procedures to Congress when judges are subject to certain discipline.

And finally, the bill establishes an objective standard for recusal. If you’re a judge and your closest judge-friend is the subject of a complaint, you should not be part of the judicial council reviewing that judge’s conduct.

FTC’s Gabe Roth said: “For decades, the Judicial Conduct and Disability Act has helped ensure that judges who engage in unethical conduct are held accountable. But developments like Judge Newman’s suspension and Judge Ross’ misbehavior underscore the need for modernization. Rep. Fitzgerald’s amendments would strengthen the JCDA in several respects, by limiting the maximum duration of suspensions, facilitating the transfer of complaints where appropriate and enhancing Congress’s oversight responsibilities. They constitute a valuable contribution to judicial accountability, and Fix the Court is proud to endorse Rep. Fitzgerald’s work.”

Since no provision of this bill would help one party or another or one type of judge or another, Fix the Court believes it is truly nonpartisan and looks forward to ensuring it gains bipartisan support.

And since the bill simply modernizes an existing framework that’s largely worked for 46 years, we also look forward to support from the Judicial Conference, which has its semiannual meeting in D.C. tomorrow.