Judge dread Obiter has some new heroes: fearless New York attorney Jerasimos Papapanayotou and no-nonsense US judge Edmund Bart of DuPage County, Illinois.

The National Law Journal reports how Mr Papapanayotou called a bankruptcy judge a 'bigot donning the judicial garb of a bankruptcy judge, openly assuming the role of an advocate' for the defendants.

When he appealed a $5,000 sanction, the Court of Appeals doubled the fine.

Judge Bart is also not afraid to act.

In the last year, he has sentenced three different people to a total of eight days in jail for letting their mobile telephones beep while in his courtroom.

Still, at least they have pay phones in prison.