Rule 5-102 Proceedings not substitute for appeal.

This rule says that judges can't be punished by the disciplinary commission just because they made a legal mistake. If a judge misunderstands the law, reaches the wrong conclusion, or gets the facts wrong, that's not something the commission will discipline them for, as long as the judge was acting honestly.

The only time this rule doesn't apply is when there's proof of fraud, bad faith, or a corrupt reason behind the judge's decision. If a judge is genuinely trying to do their job right but simply gets it wrong, that's considered a normal part of being a judge, not misconduct.

If someone believes a judge made a legal error in their case, the right way to fix that is through an appeal, not through a complaint to the disciplinary commission. Appeals courts are set up to catch and correct these kinds of mistakes. The commission's job is to look at a judge's conduct and honesty, not to review whether their legal rulings were correct.