28 U.S.C. § 351 — Complaints; judge defined

Page 119 TITLE 28—JUDICIARY AND JUDICIAL PROCEDURE § 352 Sec. 352. Review of complaint by chief judge. 353. Special committees. 354. Action by judicial council. 355. Action by Judicial Conference. 356. Subpoena power. 357. Review of orders and actions. 358. Rules. 359. Restrictions. 360. Disclosure of information. 361. Reimbursement of expenses. 362. Other provisions and rules not affected. 363. Court of Federal Claims, Court of Inter- national Trade, Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. 364. Effect of felony conviction. § 351. Complaints; judge defined (a) FILING OF COMPLAINT BY ANY PERSON.—Any person alleging that a judge has engaged in con- duct prejudicial to the effective and expeditious administration of the business of the courts, or alleging that such judge is unable to discharge all the duties of office by reason of mental or physical disability, may file with the clerk of the court of appeals for the circuit a written complaint containing a brief statement of the facts constituting such conduct. (b) IDENTIFYING COMPLAINT BY CHIEF JUDGE.— In the interests of the effective and expeditious administration of the business of the courts and on the basis of information available to the chief judge of the circuit, the chief judge may, by written order stating reasons therefor, iden- tify a complaint for purposes of this chapter and thereby dispense with filing of a written com- plaint. (c) TRANSMITTAL OF COMPLAINT.—Upon receipt of a complaint filed under subsection (a), the clerk shall promptly transmit the complaint to the chief judge of the circuit, or, if the conduct complained of is that of the chief judge, to that circuit judge in regular active service next sen- ior in date of commission (hereafter, for pur- poses of this chapter only, included in the term ‘‘chief judge’’). The clerk shall simultaneously transmit a copy of the complaint to the judge whose conduct is the subject of the complaint. The clerk shall also transmit a copy of any com- plaint identified under subsection (b) to the judge whose conduct is the subject of the com- plaint. (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this chapter— (1) the term ‘‘judge’’ means a circuit judge, district judge, bankruptcy judge, or mag- istrate judge; and (2) the term ‘‘complainant’’ means the per- son filing a complaint under subsection (a) of this section. (Added Pub. L. 107–273, div. C, title I, § 11042(a), Nov. 2, 2002, 116 Stat. 1848.) Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries SEVERABILITY Pub. L. 107–273, div. C, title I, § 11044, Nov. 2, 2002, 116 Stat. 1856, provided that: ‘‘If any provision of this sub- title [subtitle C (§§ 11041–11044) of title I of div. C of Pub. L. 107–273, enacting this chapter, amending sections 331, 332, 372, 375, and 604 of this title, and section 7253 of Title 38, Veterans’ Benefits, and enacting provisions set out as a note under section 1 of this title], an amend- ment made by this subtitle, or the application of such provision or amendment to any person or circumstance is held to be unconstitutional, the remainder of this subtitle, the amendments made by this subtitle, and the application of the provisions of such to any person or circumstance shall not be affected thereby.’’ § 352. Review of complaint by chief judge (a) EXPEDITIOUS REVIEW; LIMITED INQUIRY.— The chief judge shall expeditiously review any complaint received under section 351(a) or iden- tified under section 351(b). In determining what action to take, the chief judge may conduct a limited inquiry for the purpose of determining— (1) whether appropriate corrective action has been or can be taken without the necessity for a formal investigation; and (2) whether the facts stated in the complaint are either plainly untrue or are incapable of being established through investigation. For this purpose, the chief judge may request the judge whose conduct is complained of to file a written response to the complaint. Such re- sponse shall not be made available to the com- plainant unless authorized by the judge filing the response. The chief judge or his or her des- ignee may also communicate orally or in writ- ing with the complainant, the judge whose con- duct is complained of, and any other person who may have knowledge of the matter, and may re- view any transcripts or other relevant docu- ments. The chief judge shall not undertake to make findings of fact about any matter that is reasonably in dispute. (b) ACTION BY CHIEF JUDGE FOLLOWING RE- VIEW.—After expeditiously reviewing a com- plaint under subsection (a), the chief judge, by written order stating his or her reasons, may— (1) dismiss the complaint— (A) if the chief judge finds the complaint to be— (i) not in conformity with section 351(a); (ii) directly related to the merits of a de- cision or procedural ruling; or (iii) frivolous, lacking sufficient evi- dence to raise an inference that mis- conduct has occurred, or containing alle- gations which are incapable of being estab- lished through investigation; or (B) when a limited inquiry conducted under subsection (a) demonstrates that the allegations in the complaint lack any fac- tual foundation or are conclusively refuted by objective evidence; or (2) conclude the proceeding if the chief judge finds that appropriate corrective action has been taken or that action on the complaint is no longer necessary because of intervening events. The chief judge shall transmit copies of the written order to the complainant and to the judge whose conduct is the subject of the com- plaint. (c) REVIEW OF ORDERS OF CHIEF JUDGE.—A complainant or judge aggrieved by a final order of the chief judge under this section may peti- tion the judicial council of the circuit for review thereof. The denial of a petition for review of the chief judge’s order shall be final and conclu- sive and shall not be judicially reviewable on ap- peal or otherwise.