Whistleblowers Charge Northern District Bench Complicit in Cover-Up of Contra Costa County Judge Misconduct

Judge Bruce Mills has been shielded from accountability for serial misconduct spanning 17 years by 1st District Court of Appeal Justices Jim Humes, Anthony Kline, William McGuiness, Ignazio Ruvolo, and Barbara Jones, according to whistleblowers. Federal judges Phyllis Hamilton, Joseph Spero, William Alsup, and Beth Labson Freeman protected Mills at the federal level.  

East Bay Times editorial board calls on controversial Contra Costa County Judge Bruce Mills to resign:

For the second time in five years, the Commission on Judicial Performance has initiated formal disciplinary proceedings against him. Those proceedings are rare; only two to three are launched each year.

It’s time for Mills to step down, to spare everyone the time and expense of another drawn-out proceeding. This isn’t the first time he abused his authority as a judge. Not even close.

...Mills’ attorney, Jim Murphy, says the Commission on Judicial Performance should have never brought the current case, that it has a conflict because it has been criticized by the man jailed in the contempt case.

Murphy’s argument seems pretty weak, but it might have some weight if it were taken in isolation. The problem is that Mills’ abusive behavior has been going on for nearly two decades.

Murphy told this newspaper 11 years ago that his client, the judge, had learned his lesson and would change his ways.

“He is not going to ignore this,” Murphy said as he discussed the commission’s findings in a 2006 case. “I trust that he will never have any further complaints from the commission.”

That proved to be wishful thinking. Mills needs to go.

Court reform advocates charge that Mills was able to maintain his 17-year run as a rogue judge and serial Code of Judicial Ethics offender because he was protected by appellate judges at the 1st District Court of Appeal in San Francisco, and federal judges at the US District Court for the Northern District of California.

"The Mills case is one of he most explicit examples of the code of silence that virtually all judges maintain to protect other judges," said court reform activist Ulf Carlsson. "For at least 17 years, Judge Mills engaged in flagrant bias against self-represented litigants, abuse of authority, disregard for fundamental rights, and intentional disregard of the law in multiple cases. Many of those cases ended up in the appellate court, or as related federal court lawsuits," Carlsson explained. "All the judges who were made aware of Mills' conduct turned a blind eye."   

Court of appeal judges who abused their authority to conceal Mills' misconduct include Jim Humes, Anthony Kline, William McGuiness, Ignazio Ruvolo, and Barbara Jones, according to whistleblowers. 

Judges at the federal level, including Phyllis Hamilton, Joseph Spero, William Alsup, and Beth Labson Freeman used their positions to shield Mills from civil rights, honest services fraud, and other federal-level causes of action, according to court reform advocates. 

Mills' most egregious misconduct was directed at financially disadvantaged, self-represented or "pro se" litigants who could not afford to hire a lawyer, according to court watchdogs.

In an admission that sent shock waves throughout the judiciary, prominent federal Judge Richard Posner recently acknowledged that state and federal judges regard pro se parties "as kind of trash, not worth the time."