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House leader wants investigation into Calif. judge

The Associated Press | Monday, Jul 17 2006 9:15 PM

Last Updated: Monday, Jul 17 2006 9:15 PM

The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee introduced a resolution Monday to allow the panel to begin investigating a California judge for possible misconduct.

In a statement, Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., urged committee members "not to jump to any conclusions in this matter" involving U.S. District Judge Manuel Real.

"Today's resolution merely allows the House Judiciary Committee to open an investigation to determine the facts," Sensenbrenner said. "Only after the House Judiciary Committee has conducted a fair, thorough and detailed investigation, will committee members be able to consider whether ... impeachment might be warranted."

Sensenbrenner added that the next step would be establishing a committee to review the issue, with members from both parties.

The move is the latest development in a long-running controversy tied to a misconduct complaint against the judge.

Real seized control of a bankruptcy from another judge involving a woman whose probation he was overseeing. The action allowed Deborah M. Canter to live rent-free for three years in a Los Angeles house, costing her creditors $35,000 in rent and thousands more in legal costs, according to court documents.

A judicial discipline committee ruled 3-2 in late April that it had no power to sanction Real, 81, because the chief judge of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals failed to properly investigate the complaint. However, the committee agreed that Mary M. Schroeder, the 9th Circuit's chief judge, erred by failing to convene a special committee to review the allegations.

Federal judges are appointed for life, and while they can be impeached, the process is cumbersome and rarely used. In 1980, Congress created circuit judicial councils to review misconduct complaints, but those councils have hardly been aggressive.

In this case, if the House Judiciary Committee determines impeachment is warranted, the full House would have to approve articles of impeachment and the Senate would vote on whether to remove Real from office.

Real, who has been a U.S. district judge in Los Angeles since 1966, has for many years personally supervised numerous probationers, among them Canter, who had pleaded guilty in April 1999 to one count of loan fraud and three counts of making false statements.