“From an ethical standpoint, it is never a good sign when someone starts a sentence with the comment, “I’m sure I am going to get in trouble for [this]…. ” That is particularly true when the someone is a federal judge, obligated by a code of judicial conduct to avoid the “appearance of impropriety.”

So begins a commentary by Stanford Law Professor Deborah Rhode in a very interesting (and short) series by the New York Times on the decision of the Second Circuit to remove Federal District Court Judge Shira Scheindlin from presiding over litigation regarding the New York Police Department’s Stop & Frisk Policy.

In the piece, several commentators take to task the Second Circuit which removed Judge Scheindlin despite the fact that no one in the litigation brought a motion to remove her.

The Second Circuit decision can be found here.