New Rules for Dealing With Federal Judges Who Have Issues

Updated: New rules adopted today by the Judicial Conference of the United States for the first time provide uniform national standards for dealing with federal judges whose health or behavior may interfere with their ability to perform their jobs.

The rules (PDF)—which, unlike prior standards, are binding—"cover such topics as complaint initiation and review, venue, confidentiality and publication, remedies, the conduct of investigations, and the rights and roles of participants in the process," the conference explains in a press release.

The rules, which were developed after nearly four years of study, "dispense with a hodgepodge of practices the judicial circuits have developed over time to process complaints and replace them with a uniform system monitored by the conference's Committee on Judicial Conduct and Disability," reports the Legal Times, in an article written before the new rules were approved today.

They take effect in 30 days.

Final orders in the relatively rare cases in which federal judges have been disciplined will now routinely be made public, notes the Associated Press.

Updated at 4:50 p.m., central time, to add AP coverage.