> no judge on appeal ever seems to rule that the lower court judge was acting in an obviously corrupt manner.
There are a few reasons for this: 1. Judges are not legislators. Judges apply the law, and if they don't like the law, or if the law is contradictory, they write a note in the decision asking legistlators to review the law.
2. If a lower-court judge is corrupt, but didn't violate legal procedure, what does "corrupt" mean?