Interesting post by labor lawyer Sam Heldman on unjudicial behaviour by a certain Ninth Circuit judge, Alex Kozinski. I'm sure many of you have received links to various opinions by a certain Texas District Court judge, Samuel B. Kent. His opinions are often hilarious, nasty and cutting, very well written, and contemptuous of the fools who appear before him in his court. He is, in my opinion, the worst person on the Federal Bench. Similarly, Kozinsky is a rabid ideologue and bigot, whose opinions are in the same tradition (btw, his wife, Marci Tiffany, was the former US Trustee for the Central District of California, a political appointee by the first Bush, and a diletante whose obnoxiousness was tempered only by her aversion to hard work. For that, all local bankruptcy lawyers should feel some debt of gratitude). He is also very funny, which, unfortunately, is not his job.

In Los Angeles County, if you don't like the judge you've been assigned, you have at least one opportunity to recuse the judge, and you may do so for any reason, however petty. Although there are supposedly standards by which a Federal judge is supposed to recuse himself, it is an exceedingly rare process, and it's entirely up to the judge to decide whether he has a financial interest that may be affected (the appeals court might ultimately have a differing view, but such oversight is worthless when the parties have limited financial resources to challenge a bad ruling). At a time when the Federal Judiciary has become another political branch, and its judges have lifetime appointments, as well as unlimited power to settle scores and impose their beliefs on the parties that appear before them, such a policy invites the sort of judicial corruption exemplified by Alex Kozinski, Manuel Real, Lawrence Silberman, Clarence Thomas, and Antonin Scalia.

If a party to a Federal suit could recuse a judge at the beginning of a lawsuit, whether it's at trial or on appeal, it might discourage a judge from abusing his power in that matter. I have the impression that most judges, at least, aren't doing it for the paycheck. They love holding court, and gaining a reputation for being a local a-hole that parties either do not want to appear before, or wish to appear before them only because their views are so predictable, is one no judge truly wants.