Florida decides to discipline an appellate judge for his reasoning in an opinion.

Howard Bashman, the premier source of appellate news at his How Appealing blog, provides some spot on food for thought in his column at Law.com, where he discusses the State of Florida's decision to institute disciplinary proceedings against a judge (full disclosure, it isn't me) on that state's 1st District Court of Appeal. The judge's alleged sin was that he dared to write an opinion in which he suggested that a colleague should have recused himself.

I agree with Howard on this one all the way. Whatever the merits of that issue may be and irrespective of whether asserting such a view may be detrimental to the collegiality of the court, it is obvious to me that the procedural posture of how the case before the court should be decided and by whom, is fair game for a judicial opinion and not properly the subject of discipline.