Victims of harassment by federal judges often find the judiciary is above the law

Aliza Shatzman told NPR’s Carrie Johnson that judiciary workplace dispute resolution mechanisms are "a band-aid over a bullet hole," and that the federal judiciary is “not solving the problem."

Shatzman also said the court system's typical practice, which does not identify judges involved the disciplinary process, could expose more unwitting young lawyers to more abuse.

The system for reporting problems can vary depending on where in the country a judge is based, a tangle of rules and procedures that can be hard even for trained lawyers to navigate.

Shatzman told NPR she's heard of officials around the nation who are designated to receive complaints dissuading people from filing them, because "not enough clerks" are reporting abuse, or because the judge's behavior "doesn't meet the standard for abusive conduct."