Washington, DC— Today, the nation's first comprehensive study of the systems that hold state and federal judges accountable ranked Nebraska 13th 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.

"Nebraska's exclusive application of formal, public discipline adds teeth to its system for removing dishonorable members of the judiciary, and it also provides the public with needed information about judges' misconduct," stated HALT Senior Counsel Suzanne M. Blonder.

HALT's study found that Nebraska is one of just nine states that only impose public discipline on judges. Most states primarily rely on private sanctions, such as closed-door reprimands and censures. And unlike requirements in other states, Nebraska rules do not prohibit citizens from speaking publicly about ethics complaints against judges. "While many jurisdictions forbid complainants from disclosing a judge's misconduct, Nebraska allows its citizens to speak freely about their grievances against members of the judiciary," explained Blonder.

HALT noted, however, that the state still falls short in several important areas. While Nebraska's Judicial Conduct Code requires judges to file reports disclosing their financial interests, the filings omit critical information, such as a judge's board affiliations and the economic interests of his spouse and dependents.

Additionally, Nebraska does not give laypersons a sufficient voice on the Commission on Judicial Qualifications, which is composed of four judges, three attorneys and just three public members. "Stacking the Commission with judges and lawyers creates, at a minimum, the appearance of impropriety," noted 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.