Unsealed documents reveal concerns over former judge's fitness to serve on bench

“The situation regarding Judge Blackburn, while deeply troubling, is not unusual at all,” LAP’s President and Founder Aliza Shatzman, a 2026 ABA Journal Legal Rebel, told the ABA Journal. “Judges often do not recognize their own fallibility, risking serious harm to litigants, lawyers, judicial staff and the public and further eroding the already shaky public trust and confidence in the courts,” Shatzman said.

She added, “State judicial discipline systems need better processes in place to ensure accountability and transparency and to make it easier for staff or anyone else concerned about a judge’s fitness to safely report that information without fear of retaliation, retribution or reputational harm.”