In Re Charge of Judicial Misconduct

ORDER

This petition for review by the Judicial Council stems from one of three complaints of judicial misconduct filed in late 1980. The three complaints related to the same two federal judges and were dismissed by order of the Chief Judge of the Ninth Circuit in May, 1981. In March, 1982, one of the three complainants filed a document which the Judicial Council construes for the purposes of this order as a request for review pursuant to 28 U.S.C.A. § 372 (e)(10) (Supp.1982).

The complaints arose primarily from rulings made by two judges in regards to a Chapter X bankruptcy reorganization. The bankruptcy proceeding involved a company which had purportedly conducted a complex land fraud scheme.

The complaints described a series of actions allegedly taken by officers of the bankrupt to defraud investors through the transfer of land and worthless mortgage contracts. It was asserted that court appointed trustees furthered the fraud during the bankruptcy proceedings by, inter alia, disposing of victims’ interests without providing notice, transferring land to parties at prices substantially below market value, and failing to disclose clear evidence of fraud by officers of the…