Washington, DC— Today, the nation's first comprehensive study of the systems that hold state and federal judges accountable ranked North Dakota 23rd 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.

"North Dakota must add teeth to its system of judicial oversight," stated HALT Senior Counsel Suzanne M. Blonder. In 2002, the state's Supreme Court merely censured a Devils Lake municipal judge who neglected cases and failed to properly supervise a clerk who stole at least $10,000 in court funds. "While most members of the judiciary serve capably from the bench, judges who neglect their duties should be removed, not simply given a slap on the wrist," explained Blonder.

HALT's study also found that North Dakota does not place meaningful limitations on the reimbursement and compensation that judges may accept in connection with corporate and special interest funded trips. "North Dakota's laws unfortunately include massive loopholes that still allow members of the judiciary to be wined and dined on the corporate dime," noted Blonder.

North Dakota is one of only nine states in the country that fails to offer a comprehensive Web site dedicated to the judicial discipline process. "Without online resources to clarify how to file a complaint, explain judicial ethics standards or provide information about judges' disciplinary histories, consumers do not have the tools to navigate North Dakota's judicial oversight system," explained 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 North Dakota's chief judicial officers will work to transform a mechanism marred by toothlessness into a system dedicated to upholding the integrity of the judiciary."