Judges and Judiciary,
Ethics/Professional Responsibility
Sep. 22, 2026
The death of an ethical judge
A Japanese judge starved rather than violate a law he believed was unjust. His tragic choice raises enduring questions about when law, judicial ethics and conscience collide.
Anthony J. Mohr
Judge (ret.)
Los Angeles County Superior Court
Judge Mohr currently is a fellow at the Advanced Leadership Initiative at Harvard.
The judge was 33, with an assignment to a small branch court with a docket full of petty economic crimes. Ethical man that he was, the judge made a pact with himself to obey the law. "I just want to be a fine judge," he told his wife. "If I take a day off, the trials will be delayed by that much, and there are people who will suffer."
Most of Tokyo District Court Judge Yamaguchi Yoshitada's calendar involved black market deals. Rarely were his defe...
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