The Regulation of Judicial Ethics in the Federal System: A Peek Behind Closed Doors

Authors

  • Arthur D. Hellman

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5195/lawreview.2007.112

Abstract

On September 21, 2006, a remarkable spectacle unfolded in a hearing room in the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington. A few months earlier, the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee had introduced a resolution impeaching Federal District Judge Manuel L. Real “for high crimes and misdemeanors.” Now, sitting alone at the witness table, the eighty-twoyear-old judge defended himself vigorously against accusations that he had improperly intervened in a bankruptcy case to help a woman whose probation he was supervising after she was convicted of various fraud offenses. At one point a member of the Judiciary Committee directed his gaze at the judge and said, “Judge Real, because of your actions, arguably [a family trust involved in the bankruptcy case] lost tens of thousands of dollars in lost rent and also in attorneys’ fees. Did you feel any responsibility for the losses that were incurred by the . . . trust?” The judge responded in a firm voice, “Mr. Smith, I don’t know anything about the loss.”

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Published

2007-04-26

How to Cite

Hellman, Arthur D. 2007. “The Regulation of Judicial Ethics in the Federal System: A Peek Behind Closed Doors”. University of Pittsburgh Law Review 69 (2). https://doi.org/10.5195/lawreview.2007.112.

Issue

Vol. 69 No. 2 (2007)

Section

Articles

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