Edwards, Harry T., Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Letter to Hon. Robert W. Kastenmeier (April 18, 1989). "Regulating Judicial Misconduct and Divining 'Good Behavior' for Feder- Godbold, John C., director, Federal Judicial Center, Judge, U.S. Court of Kamenir-Reznik, Janice, president, California Women Lawyers: Prepared Kastenmeier, Hon. Robert W., and Michael J. Remington, chief counsel, Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Administration of Justice: "Judicial Discipline: A Legislative Perspective," 76 Ky. L. J. (1987– 88).. Levin, A. Leo, professor, The Law School, University of Pennsylvania, chair- man, Twentieth Century Fund Task Force on Federal Judicial Responsibil- Mikva, Abner J., Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia 90 404 105 Stapleton, Walter K., Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, 146 Zemans, Frances Kahn, executive vice president and director, American Judi- 333 H.R. 1930, 101st Cong., 1st Sess. (1989) (Kastenmeier), to provide that justices and judges in senior status, in order to receive certain salary increases, be certified as having performed a certain amount of work each year. H.R. 2181, 101st Cong., 1st Sess. (1989) (Kastenmeier), to restore lost compen- sation and establish the procedure for adjusting future compensation of H.J. Res. 294, 101st Cong., 1st Sess. (1989) (Sangmeister), to provide for the automatic removal of Federal judges upon their conviction of serious crimes APPENDIX III.-MATERIALS RELATING TO JUDICIAL DISCIPLINE AND IMPEACHMENT Hon. Robert W. Kastenmeier, letter to Hon. Peter W. Rodino, Jr., Chairman, Ruth Marcus, "Impeaching Judges a Long, Trying Process," Wash. Post (April 689 L. Ralph Mecham, Director, Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, letter to Hon. Robert W. Kastenmeier (October 26, 1989).... Margie J. Phelps, letter to Michael Remington, Esq., Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Administration of Justice (July 20, 1989), APPENDIX IV.-MATERIALS RELATING TO JUDICIAL SALARIES L. Ralph Mecham, Director, Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, letter to Hon. Jim Wright, Speaker of the House (April 16, 1987). Thomas J. MacBride, Senior Judge, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California, letter to Hon. Robert W. Kastenmeier (December 27, 1988), with L. Ralph Mecham, Director, Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, letter to Hon. Jim Wright, Speaker of the House (April 13, 1989), with attachments... Linda Greenhouse, Justice: "In which the Chief Justice carries the ball and runs interference on a pay-rise play.", N.Y. Times (May 9, 1989)....... Joan Biskupic, “U.S. Judges Turn to the Hill for Help on Pay, Work," Cong. Hon. Robert W. Kastenmeier, letter to Hon. Owen B. Pickett, U.S. House of Nancy C. Dreher, Judge, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Minnesota, letter to Hon. Robert W. Kastenmeier (August 17, 1989), with attachments Diarmuid F. O'Scannlain, Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, APPENDIX V.-MATERIALS RELATING TO SENIOR JUDGE WORKLOAD Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, "The Senior Judge System in the Federal Judiciary" (March 16, 1989). Tom Watson, "Seniors Rescue Courts in Crisis," Legal Times (June 19, 1989) John D. Gordon III, letter to Hon. Robert W. Kastenmeier (August 14, 1989).... George E. MacKinnon, Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Colum- bia Circuit, letter to Hon. Robert W. Kastenmeier (September 28, 1989)......... Hon. Robert W. Kastenmeier, letter to Hon. Warren E. Burger, Chief Justice Diana E. Murphy, Judge, U.S. District Court, Minneapolis, MN, president, Federal Judges Association, letter to Hon. Robert W. Kastenmeier (October 18, 1989), with attachments..... APPENDIX VI.-MATERIALS RELATING TO JUDICIAL RETIREMENT H.R. 3726, 100th Cong., 1st Sess. (1987) (Gray of Pennsylvania), to allow a Hon. William H. Gray III, a Representative in Congress from the State of Hon. Robert W. Kastenmeier, letter to Hon. Frank Annunzio, a Representa- Page 771 782 783 785 795 APPENDIX VII.-MISCELLANEOUS Federal Judicial Center, "Illustrative Rules Governing Complaints of Judicial 813 Congressional Research Service: Bibliography of books by Supreme Court 889 900 JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE: DISCIPLINE AND CONDUCT THURSDAY, APRIL 27, 1989 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON COURTS, INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, AND THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE, COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY, The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:30 a.m., in room. 2237, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Robert W. Kastenmeier (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. Present: Representatives Robert W. Kastenmeier, George E. Sangmeister, William J. Hughes, Carlos J. Moorhead, Howard Coble, and F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr. Also present: Michael J. Remington, chief counsel; Judith W. Krivit, clerk; and Thomas E. Mooney, minority counsel. OPENING STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN KASTENMEIER Mr. KASTENMEIER. The subcommittee will come to order. Mr. MOORHEAD. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent that the subcommittee permit the meeting to be covered in whole or in part by television broadcast, radio broadcast, and/or still photography, pursuant to rule 5 of the committee rules. Mr. KASTENMEIER. Without objection, that will be agreed to. This morning, the subcommittee commences hearings on the important subject of "Judicial Independence: Discipline and Conduct.” Questions that will be raised during this inquiry are of enormous significance not only to the Federal judiciary and to the separation of powers among the three branches of government but to the Nation as well. Our Federal courts have served us so well for so long that we can be rightfully accused of taking them for granted. Actually, we can no longer do so. Without an autonomous and independent Federal judiciary composed of the finest judges, we will maintain neither rule of law nor respect for it that our country requires. An independent judiciary is a strong judiciary. But it is also an accountable judiciary that administers and maintains the highest ethical standards. Our inquiry this morning is brought into focus by two legislative proposals that I have introduced together with the ranking minority member of the subcommittee, Mr. Moorhead, my colleague, and both proposals relate to accountability. The first is contained in H.R. 1620, the Judicial Discipline and Impeachment Reform Act of 1989. This bill amends and improves the judicial discipline statute that was enacted through the hard work of this subcommittee in 1980. This bill also creates a commission to study the problems and issues involved in the appointment and tenure, including discipline and removal, of judges appointed to office for life. I say this with some temerity because we do have study commissions extant on the courts, but many of us feel, particularly with the question of impeachment-for even this week the Judiciary Committee voted to impeach a Federal judge-that clearly we should study whether or not the constitutional provisions are practicable in this two hundred first year of the Constitution and whether any change is indicated, assuming a growing Federal judiciary as a bureaucracy for the future. So we still recommend a commission for the study of that question and obviously others relating to discipline and removal, including constitutional limitations. The second bill is H.R. 1930, which provides that Justices and judges in senior status in order to receive certain pay raises must perform a certain amount of work each year. This is in response to, really, substantial public attention to this and similar questions arising out of pay raise proposals recently. Without objection, these two bills will be reprinted in the appendix to the hearing record. (See appendix I.) I will soon introduce, possibly even today, a bill at the request of the Judicial Conference to give the Federal judges a 30-percent salary increase and to provide them with automatic cost-of-living increases. I mention this bill to draw attention to the proposition that judicial independence, accountability, and salaries are interwoven issues. The subject of salaries is an appropriate one for this subcommittee because inadequate salary levels affect the quality of appointments, the performance of sitting judges, and low salaries create an environment for moonlighting, supplemental forms of income, that may lead to ethical difficulties, including financial disclosure, tax, possible criminal problems; ethical violations may lead to judicial discipline, of of course; discipline potentially could lead to impeachment. I am a firm believer in the candid and frank flow of communications between the judicial and legislative branches of government. The flow of information is a two-way street. I know some judges feel that communications problems between the two branches center on the failure of Congress to hear and understand the difficulties that affect Federal courts. That certainly is part of the problem. But the subject also comprises the ability and occasional failure of the judiciary to hear legitimate policy concerns of the elected representatives of the people. This proposition holds especially true in related areas of pay, perquisites, discipline, conduct, and ethics. Now I would like to introduce our first panel of witnesses, and when discussing the subject of communications between the judicial and legislative branches of government I can think of no better witness than Judge Frank M. Coffin. Judge Coffin once character |