Please excuse the long post, but I think you'll need to know a litle bit about the history in order to give your opinion.
I went to traffic court with a friend of mine a few weeks ago. He was arraigned, and plead guilty to speding,(he thought that he was eligible for traffic school). So we went over to the clerks office to get his papework. There were a lot of people in line. When we got to the clerks window, she said that he wasn't eligible because it hadn't been quite 18 months since his last traffic school. (It had been 18 months, minus 2 weeks) She was very helpful, and suggested that he set a date to go back to court, and ask to withdraw his plea and see if the judge would reduce the charges to a non pointable offense so he wouldn't lose his job.so, that's what he did. Then we left.

We went to court yesterday. There was a different judge, a judge pro tem. He was very pleasant to everyone until he called my friends case. He seemed annoyed at my friend because he asked to withdraw his plea. His entire demeanor changed. He let my friend change his plea and set a date for trial. And then he said, very sternly, " Mr______, There is a notation in your file that you have a hisory of being irate in the clerks office, and making derrogatory remarks regarding immigrants. Im putting you on notice that that will not be tolerated here, so just be aware that we are keeping our eyes on you". My friend and were both shocked. Our experience with the clerk was a pleasant one. We had no idea what he was talking about, and to make matters worse, the courtroom was full of people. About 80% were hispanic. We got a few nasty looks,to say the least, as we left the courtroom.

My question is, would that be considered judcial misconduct? For a judge to treat a defendant with hosility, and basically call him a racist in open court? Not to mention the fact that he is referring to an incident that NEVER took place. Is it proper for a notation like that to be recorded in his file without even discussing it? We don't know what else was written in his file, or who wrote it. But he has been unjustly portrayed as a racist with bad temper. Clearly, it is a very prejudcial statement and we don't beieve he will be able to get a fair trial when he goes back to court. When the presiding judge sees that notation, Im sure it will be very diificult to persuade him to show favor, and reduce the charges. I realize that it is only traffic court, but, I believe this is about more than just a speeding ticket. What if anything should he do? Thank you for taking the time to read this, By the way, This case is in Los Angeles County. Downey Court

I don't see how it could be misconduct if it was written in the file - if a clerk made a mistake and put in in the wrong file, then you should trudge all over the building asking about it, or better, hire a lawyer to find out more easily. You'd be tilting at windmills trying to claim misconduct.
Keep in mind that this is traffic court, that it does take the court's time to change pleas, that it isn't your friend's first offense (I take it, since you say it's been 18 months since his 'last traffic school') and all that is not exactly working in his favor. In fact it's all working against him. So he needs to tread lightly. He should hire a lawyer. I don't know how many traffic court appearances he has had or what happens if he gets another speeding ticket in your state.

First, Traffic court judges are generally not judges, they are lawyers who earn extra money by adjudicating traffic violations. Second, this doesn't even come close to judicial misconduct..

What HE should do is find out how he can see this notation in his file (freedomn of information act?) so that he can refute it.