Washington, DC— Today, the nation's first comprehensive study of the systems that hold state and federal judges accountable ranked Florida 17th in the nation and issued the state's program a C grade. To shine a light on the typically secretive and toothless systems that often fail to remove abusive and incompetent judges from the bench, legal consumer watchdog group HALT, Inc. released its 2008 Judicial Accountability Report Card, analyzing programs in all 50 states, D.C. and the federal circuits.

"Florida's system of judicial oversight is one of the most insular in the nation," stated HALT Senior Counsel Suzanne M. Blonder. "Litigants are reluctant to file ethics complaints against members of the judiciary when the oversight system itself is controlled by judges."

HALT noted that judges and attorneys outnumber ordinary citizens on Florida's Judicial Qualifications Commission by a two-to-one ratio. And while the Commission's Web site provides helpful tools, the site is difficult to navigate, making these resources hard to find. "Without user- friendly online resources, the public has little guidance about how to file a judicial ethics complaint or how to determine if a judge has a history of misconduct," stated Blonder.

HALT's study also found that Florida's Code of Judicial Conduct fails to place meaningful limitations on the reimbursement and compensation that judges may accept in connection with trips funded by corporate and special interests. "Florida's laws include massive loopholes that allow members of the judiciary to be wined and dined on the corporate dime," noted Blonder.

Florida Judge Richard Albritton not only admitted to asking lawyers for gifts, free lunches, hunting trips and parties, but also made insensitive and discriminatory remarks about defendants. In one case, he ordered an impoverished woman to "close your legs and stop having babies." Overlooking Albritton's repeated abuse, Florida's judicial discipline body merely ordered a one month suspension and a nominal fine, and today Albritton is back on the bench.

HALT found that Florida's system of judicial oversight is not entirely flawed, however. Unlike requirements in many states, Florida rules do not prohibit individuals from disclosing information about complaints against judges. "All states should follow Florida's example and allow citizens to speak freely about judicial misconduct and the system for sanctioning dishonorable judges," stated Blonder.

None of the top five states-Washington, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Arizona and California-scored higher than a B average on HALT's Report Card. More than half of the states received grades in the C range and HALT issued D's to 14 jurisdictions. Two states-Maine and Mississippi-flunked outright.

"At a time when the American public has lost faith in the impartiality and fairness of the nation's judiciary, it's critical that we have an effective system of oversight for judges," stated Blonder. "We hope that Florida's chief judicial officers will work to transform a mechanism marred by secrecy into a system dedicated to upholding the integrity of the judiciary."