Washington, DC— Today, the nation's first comprehensive study of the systems that hold state and federal judges accountable ranked Missouri 26th in the nation and issued the state's program a C-Minus 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.

"Missouri's system of judicial oversight is one of the least transparent in the nation," stated HALT Senior Counsel Suzanne M. Blonder, noting that state officials do not release information about ethics complaints against judges unless and until Missouri's Commission on Retirement, Removal and Discipline of Judges files a recommendation for discipline with the state's high court.

Moreover, the Web site for the Commission fails to provide critical information, including a clear explanation of the judicial discipline process, a section addressing complainants' most frequently asked questions, a list of upcoming hearings and disciplinary procedural rules.

Additionally, Missouri rules fail to place meaningful limitations on the reimbursement and compensation that judges may accept in connection with corporate and special interest funded trips. "Missouri laws unfortunately include massive loopholes that still allow members of the judiciary to be wined and dined on the corporate dime," noted Blonder.

However, HALT's study did find that unlike many states that "gag" complainants, Missouri allows its citizens to speak publicly about their ethics complaints against judges. "To protect citizens' right to free speech and ensure that the disciplinary process is working as it should, states should follow Missouri's example and allow individuals to speak publicly about a judge's misconduct," 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 Missouri's chief judicial officers will work to transform a mechanism marred by secrecy into a system dedicated to upholding the integrity of the judiciary."