Washington, DC— Today, the nation's first comprehensive study of the systems that hold state and federal judges accountable ranked Louisiana 47th in the nation and issued the state's program a D 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.

"Louisiana's system of judicial oversight is one of the most secretive in the country," stated HALT Senior Counsel Suzanne M. Blonder. "In an era that embraces principles of sunshine and transparency, it's shameful that the state's system for monitoring our most powerful government officials is designed to shut out the public."

HALT's study noted that Louisiana officials do not release information about ethics complaints against judges unless and until the state's Judiciary Commission files a recommendation for discipline with the state's high court. Louisiana Supreme Court rules also "gag" consumers from disclosing information about their ethics complaints until after a hearing has been conducted.

HALT further observed that the Web site for Louisiana's Judiciary Commission lacks a clear explanation of the judicial disciplinary process, fails to provide a downloadable complaint form and omits past disciplinary hearings. "Without helpful online resources, few consumers have the information they need to file a complaint against a judge who is abusing his power on the bench," stated Blonder.

Additionally, Louisiana'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. "Louisiana's laws include massive loopholes that allow members of the judiciary to be wined and dined on the corporate dime," noted Blonder.

None of the top six states-Washington, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Arizona, California and Texas-scored higher than a B average on the 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 Louisiana's chief judicial officers will work to transform a mechanism marred by secrecy into a system dedicated to upholding the integrity of the judiciary," stated Blonder.