I sort of agree, but the American legal system wasn't exactly in great shape before. The reaction described in the article is not good, but a reaction of some sort was expected.
Yeah, we have bigger problems in the American legal system. Such as the fact that we do almost no data collection. We have no idea how effective individual judges, courts, prisons, or prosecutors are because no one writes it down anywhere.
Oh no, it is written down. The courts have determined that their notes/complaints/etc are deserving of such secrecy that you can't even subpoena judicial complaints even if they contain exculpatory evidence. They reason that releasing complaints would undermine public trust in the judiciary. I argue that would only be the case if inappropriate punishments (or lack of punishment) were taking place. How about that for conflict of interest - the court granting themselves protections that only apply to themselves...
I had a magistrate show consistent bias (retired police chief no less), unwarrantly yell at the defense, and prevent the defense from voicing a petition to dismiss based on rights violations with the response "that's not gonna happen" (a violation of due process and the state constitution that requires defendants to be heard). It was all recorded pursuant to law. I filed a judicial complaint. They closed the complaint saying there was no evidence of wrongdoing, even though their website lists uncurteous behavior like yelling as a disciplinary infraction and I had a recording. I raised the rights violations and the fact that we were denied from having our petition even heard (another rights violation). The judge said that we would need a record that the concerns were raised in the magisterial court, even though the issue was that we couldn't raise them since we weren't allowed to present the petition. Not to mention, it was a trial de novo ("a complete do-over" according to the judge), which means this is our chance to have complete reconsideration, including the petition.
Same case had an ADA violate several rules. I filed a complaint there too. The Bar's response is that they only investigate prosecutors if the court has already formally declared prosecutorial misconduct occurred. Useless.
Honestly, incompetence and bias is rife in the judiciary. They plainly side with the institution. After all, the government is the one who pays their check, and the more buddy buddy they are with the enforcement side means the less likely they will be cited or charged with anything.
Judicial complaints and wrongdoing are so secret that it surpasses your right to exculpatory evidence. An investigation of a judge can find that they were biased or screwed up and that you were innocent, yet they are not required to turn that over to you.
