Howard Shore Censured Retired

San Diego Superior Court Judge Howard Shore used a racial epithet for Black people in a courtroom hypothetical while questioning a sociologist who specialized in race studies. The California Commission on Judicial Performance found his in-court comments were "undignified, discourteous, and offensive" and could reasonably be perceived as reflecting racial and ethnic bias. This wasn't Shore's only formal discipline. Less than 18 months earlier, the Commission had already censured him for unauthorized absences from the bench. When the Commission examined his more recent conduct, it found not only the racially charged courtroom comments but also that Shore had made misleading statements about that earlier discipline. Shore was separately barred from hearing cases under California's Racial Justice Act due to the same pattern of conduct. He retired from the bench following the Commission's censure.