Some of these judges must've really been having a bad day

The 2008 Annual Report from the California Commission on Judicial Performance was released recently. It's basically a detailing of how the commission operates, and the punishments they metted out to the state's wayward bench officers. Although 43-pages long, there are some good reads in there.

An Alameda County Superior Court judge was admonished for twice telling defendants using publicly-funded attorneys that "you get what you pay for." The same judge called a domestic violence case before her a "crazy waste of time."

An Orange County Superior Court judge was also admonished, but for holding up hand-made signs that read "overruled" during the trial. While the judge told the objecting attorney he was "lightening things up," the commission agreed with an appellate court, which found the sign was "a sideshow in the overall circus atmosphere mocking a serious proceeding important to the parties."

A Riverside County Superior Court judge was removed from the bench for a number of reasons, including trying to intimidate the mother a man killed in a drunk driving wreck to agree to a disposition of manslaughter instead of murder. The commission found that the judge "had engaged in numerous instances of willful and prejudicial misconduct over a 10-year period, had not shown an appreciation of his misconduct and had repeatedly avoided taking full responsibility for his actions."

In total, the commission closed 892 cases last year. Of those, 87 were sent for investigation, concluding with 34 disciplines.