Sec. 412. Oversight process for disqualification of justice, judge, or magistrate judge
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Section 455 of title 28, United States Code, as amended by section 404 of this Act, is amended by adding at the end the following: Any litigant appearing before a justice, judge, or magistrate judge of the United States may file a petition that the justice, judge, or magistrate judge of the United States, as applicable, shall be disqualified based on the criteria described in subsection (b). Any judge or magistrate judge of the United States subject to a petition under paragraph
(1)may provide a public, written response to the petition that provides a written explanation relating to any disqualification decision. Any justice of the Supreme Court of the United States subject to a petition under paragraph
(1)shall provide a public, written response to the petition that provides a written explanation relating to any disqualification decision. If a litigant makes a petition under paragraph
(1)relating to a justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, the Judicial Conference of the United States shall issue a nonbinding, public advisory opinion with its recommendation, which shall be shared with the Supreme Court Review Committee established in section 415 of the Anti-Corruption and Public Integrity Act . If the Judicial Conference of the United States recommends that a justice of the Supreme Court of the United States be disqualified under this section, the justice shall publicly explain a final disqualification decision in writing, which shall be shared with the Supreme Court Review Committee established in section 415 of the Anti-Corruption and Public Integrity Act . For any judge or magistrate judge of the United States, the Judicial Conference of the United States shall— establish a written process to determine whether a judge meets 1 or more of the criteria in subsection (b); and use any administrative procedures which may be necessary to aid in the execution of the written process described in subparagraph (B), which may include any procedures or software that may be necessary to determine whether a judge meets 1 or more of the criteria in subsection (b). The process described in subparagraph
(B)shall be made publicly available and, at a minimum— include how an individual may make a petition under paragraph
(1)for a judge to be disqualified; ensure that a judge or group of judges other than the judge who is the subject of the inquiry determines whether the judge shall be disqualified; allow the judge or group of judges making the disqualification determination to receive the expert advice of ethics personnel and officials, including individuals with expertise in ethics at the Judicial Conference or at the Office of Public Integrity; require that the judge be disqualified should another judge or group of judges determine that the judge must be disqualified in accordance with this subsection; and require that all recusal decisions be made publicly available and be accompanied by a written explanation for the recusal decision. .