The organized Bar across the country makes a big point of supporting judicial independence. We should make just as big a point of supporting judicial integrity.

An article by Ian Urbina in The New York Times tells the sad tale of how two Pennsylvania judges have pleaded guilty to fraud in federal court to accepting $2.6 million in kickbacks, and now have been named as defendants in a class action suit  for the scheme to  send juveniles to private detention facilities.

While judicial misconduct is rare, where it occurs it should be addressed forcefully in order to safeguard the integrity of the judicial system.and public confidence. In Georgia, I am increasingly concerned about the appearance of improper conduct in one of our courts involving a retired court staff member.  Probably only the U. S. Attorney has the tools to deal with this.