In the Daily Journal article “Judges can’t defend colleague under attack over ruling” Mr. Miller, comments on the issue raised after an Orange County judge’s decision to reduce the sentence of a convicted child molester provoked outrage in the county and the nation, including demands in social media, the press and the halls of government for the judge to resign or be recalled.
This resulted in a controversy because the state’s Code of Judicial Ethics flatly prohibits judges from talking about ongoing cases, with only minor exceptions, according to the court’s presiding judge and many other experts.
Even though judges are able to talk about cases that aren’t pending anymore, many are uncomfortable with doing even that, said Mr. Randall Miller, who represents judges in discipline cases. “Judges are pretty well trained,” he said.