Washington, DC— Today, the nation's first comprehensive study of the systems that hold state and federal judges accountable ranked Michigan ninth 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.

"Michigan's system of judicial oversight is shamefully insular," stated HALT Senior Counsel Suzanne M. Blonder, noting that the state's Judicial Tenure Commission is composed of five judges, two attorneys and just two public members. "With a system that appears to be of the judges, by the judges and for the judges, it's no wonder that litigants are reluctant to file a complaint against a member of the judiciary."

Before filing formal charges against a member of the judiciary, the Commission may not publicly sanction a judge, and instead relies on private sanctions, such as private admonishment and "sensitivity training" courses. "Judges, who should be expected to maintain the highest standard of ethics, are publicly disciplined in Michigan only when they repeatedly and flagrantly violate the conduct code," noted Blonder.

Additionally, Michigan's Code of Judicial Conduct fails to place meaningful limitations on the compensation that judges may accept in connection with trips funded by private interests. "Michigan's laws include massive loopholes that allow members of the judiciary to be wined and dined on the corporate dime," stated Blonder.

However, HALT did note that Michigan features some of the best online resources of any judicial conduct agency in the nation. The Web site for the Judicial Tenure Commission provides straightforward navigation, a clear and detailed explanation of the disciplinary process, a downloadable complaint form and helpful links to the state's Code of Judicial Conduct and disciplinary procedural rules.

None of the top five states-Washington, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Arizona and California-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 Michigan's chief judicial officers will work to transform a mechanism marred by secrecy into a system dedicated to upholding the integrity of the judiciary."