In 1990, Congress created the National Commission on Judicial Discipline and Removal, who's charge included investigation of problems related to the discipline and removal of life-tenured federal judges, and evaluation of alternatives to current arrangements for judicial discipline and removal, including statutory and constitutional amendments. The Commission was instructed to submit its findings and recommendations to the President, Congress, and the Chief Justice of the United States. The Commission held six public hearings during 1992 and 1993, and submitted its final report on August 2, 1993.

This book contains testimony presented during six public hearings and a "constitutional roundtable discussion" conducted by the Commission in 1992 and 1993. Much of the testimony presented during three hearings held in late June 1993 specifically concerns material contained in the Draft Report and Tentative Recommendations document distributed by the commission in early June of 1993. That document is fully presented as Appendix B in this volume, with its original pagination preserved, because many witnesses directly cited those pages during their testimony.

The Federal Judicial Center serves as repository for the Commission's published materials.