> (although the judge is given a great deal of latitude and only egregious cases would be overruled) This does depend on where you are, different jurisdictions

> (although the judge is given a great deal of latitude and only egregious cases would be overruled) This does depend on where you are, different jurisdictions will draw the line in very different places. E.g. England has particularly strict rules on bias and the appearance of bias in judges: in a famous recent case, Augusto Pinochet successfully got a ruling that he could be extradited to Spain overturned, because one of the judges on the five judge panel (Lord Hoffmann) was a director of a charitable trust linked to a body (Amnesty International) that had submitted an amicus brief in the case.[1] (Not that it did Pinochet much good, since a differently constituted court later came to the same conclusion as the original one). [1] http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/ld199899/ldjudgmt/jd990115/pino01.htm http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/ld19989...