Report Judges
Judges are people, too. If you request records from a court clerk, you might come across some documents that indicate potential impropriety on the part of a judge. If you go sit in as a court watcher, you will most likely witness something that just doesn't seem right.
If we witness a judge do something that we believe is unjust, it probably is unjust. We simply compare his behavior to the Canons of Judicial Conduct, and if his behavior puts him at odds with it, then we have an ethical duty to report it.
It doesn't matter whether or not the judge was presiding over your case. It doesn't matter whether or not you like the judge. He might be a fine upstanding person, and simply incompetent.
Some judges are trying their dead-level best to do their duty well. Other judges get lost along the way and begin meting out justice according to their own perspectives and feelings. Yet others knowingly and arrogantly abuse the office that we the people entrusted to them.
Standard of Conduct
Similar to attorneys, judges have sworn to abide by certain rules of conduct. Every jurisdiction — state or federal — has its own standard. They are all nearly identical, but there are minor differences in wording and numbering.
The American Bar Association has compiled a list that may be helpful in locating the ruleset for your state.
For example, in Texas, the ruleset to reference is called "Texas Code of Judicial Conduct" (TCJC) and the current version of it can be downloaded from txcourts.gov in PDF format. As you might expect for judges, it's a pretty quick read: as of July 2025, it consisted of only 12 1/2 pages. Judges in Texas must abide by every single bit of it, and have sworn to do so.
Adjudicative Duties
Judges have a duty to take the facts and law, as they are brought, filter those facts through the rules of evidence, and properly apply the law to those facts.
If a judge does anything else, then it's an "abuse of discretion".
Administrative Duties
In addition to the judicial duties we typically think of, judges also have duties that are administrative, or ministerial. The law or the rules are written in a mandatory way, specifying that the judge "shall" or "must" do a certain required thing... or that the judge "shall not" or "must not" do a certain prohibited thing.
If a judge fails or refuses to do what was required, or if a judge does what was explicitly prohibited, then that is "official misconduct".