We expect judges to be models of behavior. Obviously, we want those who are judging us to exhibit the best conduct. This is because an “independent, fair, honorable and impartial judiciary is indispensable to our system of justice.” The Pennsylvania Rules of Judicial Conduct note: “the Pennsylvania legal system is founded upon the principle that an independent, fair, impartial, and competent judiciary, composed of persons of integrity, will interpret and apply the law that governs our society.” Judges are expected to “uphold the dignity of judicial office at all times, avoiding both impropriety and the appearance of impropriety in their professional and personal lives.”
However, judicial misconduct has been at the forefront of the news recently. On Nov. 12, three Indiana circuit court judges were suspended without pay for 30 to 60 days for their part in an early morning brawl that resulted in two of the judges being shot. The Indiana Supreme Court found the three “engaged in judicial misconduct by appearing in public in an intoxicated state and behaving in an injudicious manner and by becoming involved in a verbal altercation.” Two of the judges were also involved in a physical altercation during which they were both shot, and one of them was criminally charged and convicted. The Indiana Supreme Court found the judges’ “actions were not merely embarrassing on a personal level; they discredited the entire Indiana judiciary.”