AWall Street Journal investigation found that federal judges around the nation have violated U.S. law and judicial ethics by overseeing 965 court cases involving companies in which they or their family owned stock.
As a result of the Journal’s reporting, judges in 796 cases have notified courts that they presided in the lawsuits improperly and that the cases are eligible to be reopened.
In the most expansive investigation of judicial stockholdings in the U.S., the Journal in September 2021 revealed that 131 federal judges improperly heard 685 court cases between 2010 and 2018 in which they or their family members owned shares of companies that were plaintiffs or defendants in the litigation. Two of the judges sat on appellate courts; the other 129 were district judges, also called trial judges. Since its initial review, which examined civil cases, the Journal found additional judges and more violations.
