Issued on Law Day, May 1, HALT's 2008 Judicial Accountability Report Card is a scathing indictment of toothless judicial ethics standards and the closed-door systems charged with disciplining judges. Of the 51 state systems surveyed, more than half received marks below C. Mississippi and Maine flunked outright. No state earned an A. Washington state took top honors, but was only graded a B. HALT gave the systems overseeing federal judges a D+.

"While most judges serve capably from the bench, our systems for judicial accountability unfortunately allow others to regularly abuse their positions of power," stated HALT Senior Counsel Suzanne M. Blonder. "Weak conduct codes permit state and federal judges to rule even when they have a critical conflict of interest in a case. Judicial discipline commissions regularly turn a blind eye to misconduct by making it difficult for citizens to file complaints against judges, concealing data and ultimately refusing to remove or meaningfully sanction even the most incompetent and abusive judges."