WASHINGTON — Embattled federal Judge Manuel L. Real told a congressional subcommittee Thursday that he did nothing wrong in seizing a bankruptcy case from another judge, insisting he was the victim of "a personal vendetta" by Venice civil rights lawyer Stephen Yagman.
Real, who has been a U.S. district judge in Los Angeles since 1966, spoke before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property, which is considering his possible impeachment.
The veteran judge said he took over the case of Deborah M. Canter, a female fraud defendant whom he was supervising during her probation, because the bankruptcy judge had received a confidential report that might have affected his judgment. Yagman, who had no role in the bankruptcy but has long been Real's nemesis, filed a complaint against the judge three years ago.
"I did not make any rulings in her bankruptcy action based on any" secret communications or "to benefit an attractive female" as alleged by Mr. Yagman, "an accusation I find repugnant, particularly at my age," said Real, who is 82.
Moreover, when Rep. Chris Cannon (R-Utah) asked Real if Canter was "attractive," the judge responded, "I recall her, and if you want just a frank answer, she's not attractive to me."
Thursday's hearing, broadcast live on the Internet, came against a backdrop of congressional turmoil over the federal judiciary. Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr., (R-Wis.), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, which oversees the courts subcommittee, has a bill pending to create an inspector general to probe misconduct by federal judges, who are appointed for life "subject to good behavior."
The Senate Judiciary Committee this week held a hearing on splitting up the 9th Circuit, the nation's largest and most liberal federal appeals court, which has been the target of conservative attacks because of decisions striking down death sentences, upholding environmental protections and declaring compulsory recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance by schoolchildren unconstitutional.
While federal judges can only be removed by the same complex impeachment process used to topple presidents, they can be censured by their peers. In the case of the Real complaint, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals drew widespread criticism by repeatedly deciding against discipline. Two days ago, a special commission headed by Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer castigated the 9th Circuit for its inaction.
