In Re Charge of Judicial Misconduct

A complaint alleging misconduct by two district court judges of this circuit has been lodged by three inmates of the Arizona State Prison. The complaint seeks administrative remedies for the alleged misconduct and is therefore controlled by the Procedures for Processing Complaints of Judicial Misconduct, adopted on November 10, 1978 by the Judicial Council of the Ninth Circuit. See In re Charge of Judicial Misconduct, 593 F.2d 879, 880 (9th Cir. 1979). These Procedures were adopted by the Judicial Council under the authority of 28 U.S.C. § 332 (d) to promote “the effective and expeditious administration of the business of the courts within [this] circuit.” Procedures ¶6; 28 U.S.C. § 332 (d).

The complaint alleges that the district court judges displayed bias against the complainants, failed to notify the class members of a class action suit, and improperly granted defendants’ motions to dismiss for failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted. None of the grounds advanced by the complaint suggests incapacity, corruption, neglect of office, or a continuing pattern of misconduct on the part of the judges; each is limited to the judge’s rulings in litigation of the…