Justice Department files ethics complaint against Minnesota federal judges; Politico, September 30, 2026

JOSH GERSTEIN and  KYLE CHENEY , Politico; Justice Department files ethics complaint against Minnesota federal judges

"The Justice Department has filed a formal complaint against nearly all of the federal district court judges in Minnesota, alleging that they violated the judicial ethics code by speaking out about the impact of the Trump administration’s immigration-enforcement surge on their court...

The complaint contends that former Chief District Judge Patrick Schiltz, Judge John Tunheim and other “anonymous district judges” from Minnesota who spoke to The New York Times for an article published earlier this month expressed bias against the government. 

DOJ contends that the judges’ remarks about agencies involved in the federal immigration surge there breached the ethics rules preventing judges from commenting on matters still before the courts or likely to wind up there...

In a statement Wednesday, Schiltz defended his actions.

“As legal-ethics experts have confirmed, I was acting well within the ethical rules that apply to federal judges in speaking to the New York Times,” Schiltzsaid “Indeed, in February of this year, the Committee on Codes of Conduct issued an advisory opinion to emphasize that federal judges may ‘[speak] and [write] on core judiciary matters such as advocacy for the rule of law and judicial independence.’ That is exactly what I did.”

A court spokesperson responded on behalf of Tunheim, echoing Schiltz’sstatement that the comments were permitted under federal rules for judges."

No Amazon, No Gmail: Trump Sanctions Upend the Lives of I.C.C. Judges; The New York Times, January 10, 2026

Marlise Simons, The New York Times; No Amazon, No Gmail: Trump Sanctions Upend the Lives of I.C.C. Judges

"To be elected a judge at the International Criminal Court was long considered an honor. For Luz del Carmen Ibáñez Carranza, the distinction has become an ordeal.

Ms. Ibáñez was a prosecutor in her native Peru, where she oversaw trials of Shining Path terrorists, of military officers accused of human rights abuses and of government officials charged with corruption. Death threats were common.

But since the Trump administration imposed sanctions on her and on some of her colleagues in retaliation for the court’s decision to investigate U.S. personnel in Afghanistan, she has faced different kinds of challenges, she said. The penalties effectively cut the judges off from all American funds, goods and credit cards, and prohibit individuals and business in the United States from working with them.

“We’re treated like pariahs, we are on a list with terrorists and drug dealers,” Ms. Ibáñez said...

In response to the hostility, the court is overhauling its American-dominated tech and financial systems. The court’s records and other data storage have been backed up at different sites, and finance and communications systems are being shifted to European platforms, according to several experts familiar with the court’s work who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters...

In September, the court announced that it would transfer its office software from Microsoft to an open-source platform developed by a German government-owned company."

Judges vote unanimously to adopt new conduct and ethics guidelines; The Irish Times, February 4, 2022

Mary Carolan, The Irish Times; Judges vote unanimously to adopt new conduct and ethics guidelines

"Judges have voted to adopt new conduct and ethics guidelines which will be the framework for the first judicial misconduct complaints procedure here. 

At a remote meeting on Friday of the 167 member Judicial Council, the guidelines were unanimously supported by the participants. The guidelines were circulated to the judiciary last month. 

In a foreword to the judges, Chief Justice Mr Justice Donal O’Donnell recommended their adoption. He said public confidence in the justice system “depends on the integrity and authority of the judiciary”. 

As well as promoting the “highest standards” of judicial behaviour, the guidelines will also provide a framework for the conduct review function of the council, he said. 

Prepared by the council’s Judicial Conduct Committee (JCC), the guidelines are based on international principles known as the Bangalore Principles, aimed at ensuring judicial independence, impartiality, integrity, propriety and the appearance of propriety, competence and diligence and equal treatment of all who come before the courts.

They are intended to guide judges as to their conduct and to form the framework for a detailed judicial misconduct complaints procedure which, under the Judicial Council Act 2019, must be operable by June 28th next."