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Ethics, Conduct/Discipline

Resource Guide

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Gregory Hurley

David Rottman

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American Judges Association Annual Conference.

National Association of State Judicial Educators Annual Conference.

Ethics codes provide visible guidelines to clarify a court’s mission and values.  They also demonstrate a court’s commitment to the fair administration of justice.  Comprehensive ethics programs that include handbooks, periodic training, ethics hotlines, and procedures for anonymous reporting of misconduct strengthen a court’s response to ethical dilemmas.

Links to related online resources are listed below. Non-digitized publications may be borrowed from the NCSC Library; call numbers are provided.

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Justice System Journal Articles
Trends Articles

Judicial Conduct

ABA Model Code of Judicial Conduct. (February 2007).  This Web site includes links to the most recent ABA Model Code of Judicial Conduct, an explanation of changes, and a table comparing the 2007 and 1990 codes of conduct.
ABA Model Rules for Judicial Disciplinary Enforcement. (1994). The ABA Model Rules describe the organization and structure of the disciplinary system and outline disciplinary proceedings.
Flango, Carol and David Rottman. Appellate Court Procedures. (1998). 306 pages.

Tables 5 and 6 of the Appellate Court Procedures shows a chart of the 50 states' policies on removal/impeachment of an appellate or supreme court judge.
McKoski, Raymond J. Charitable Fund-Raising by Judges: The Give and Take of the 2007 ABA Model Code of Judicial Conduct. (2008). Michigan State University College of Law

This resource examines guidelines and restrictions regarding judicial fundraising for charitable purposes as established by the ABA Model Code.  KF8779 .M351 2008
Code of Conduct for United States Judges. This Code applies to United States Circuit Judges, District Judges, Court of International Trade Judges, Court of Federal Claims Judges, Bankruptcy Judges, and Magistrate Judges. Certain provisions of this Code apply to special masters and commissioners as indicated in the "Compliance" section.
Code of Judicial Conduct. New Jersey Supreme Court The New Jersey Code of Judicial Conduct includes seven canons that focus on integrity and independence, avoidance of impropriety, impartiality, improvement of the law, extra-judicial activities, and political activity.
Code of Judicial Conduct, 2012. (2012). District of Columbia Courts, Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct.

The Rules of the Code of Judicial Conduct are rules of reason that should be applied consistent with constitutional requirements, statutes, other court rules, and decisional law, and with due regard for all relevant circumstances.
McKoski, Raymond J. Ethical Considerations in the Use of Judicial Stationery for Private Purposes. (2007). Penn State Law Review, Vol. 112, No. 2

This article reviews the ABA Model Code provisions pertaining to judicial stationery as well as the permitted uses of judicial stationery. (KF8779 M35 2007)
Meiring, Adrienne. Ethical Considerations of Using Social Networking Sites. (February 2010). Indiana Court Times, Vol 18, No. 6 Adrienne Meiring, Counsel to the Indiana Commission on Judicial Qualifications, authors this article addressing use of social networking sites and implications for judicial ethics.
Ethical Standards for Administrative Law Judges. (February 1996). Lectric Law Library: State of California Tentative Recommendation This recommendation proposes to adapt the California Code of Judicial Ethics (1996) to govern the hearing and nonhearing conduct of state administrative law judges.
Gray, Cynthia. Ethical Standards for Judges . (2009). American Judicature Society

This resource provides quick reference to the Model Code of Judicial Conduct adopted by the American Bar Association, providing specific citations to the canons from the 1990 model code, followed by the parallel rule from the recently revised 2007 model code.  Topics covered include judicial independence, misuse of office, courtroom demeanor, disqualification, administrative and disciplinary responsibilities, extra-judicial activities, and political and campaign activities, among others.  (KF8779 G736 2009)
Implementation of the Judicial Conduct and Disability Act of 1980: A Report to the Chief Justice. (September 2006). The Judicial Conduct and Disability Act Study Committee. This resource provides information regarding the creation and activities of the Judicial Conduct and Disability Act Study Committee, the complaints addressed from 2001 through 2005, how the judicial branch administers the Judicial Conduct and Disability Act, and activity outside the formal complaint process and recommendations.
Shaman, Jeffrey M. et al. Judicial Conduct and Ethics. (2002). New York: Mathew Bender and Company A comprehensive guide to ethics in any situation by which a lawyer, judge, or defendant may encounter a dilemma.  Using excerpts from state and federal laws, the book explains how a person should act in court, how decisions should be made, and to whom different facets of ethics apply.  Ethics outside of court are even covered, as the book attempts to make a complete scope of what ethics mean in today’s judicial system.  ( KF8779 .S52 2000 )
Judicial Ethics Handbook. (2008). Judicial Education Center of New Mexico This comprehensive judicial ethics manual includes case law and code references with examples.
Judicial Officer Benchbook. (1990). California Municipal Court (Los Angeles Judicial District) Judge`s Education Committee A handbook of how judicial officers are supposed to carry themselves.  The book has six chapters, each focusing on a certain aspect or arena of judicial responsibility: including ethics, appointments, and guilty pleas among others.  The book’s key section is its comprehensive use of precedents, each of which is discussed in how it established a certain facet of the ideal judicial officer in today’s California.  (KFC971 .L6 C35)
Legal and Ethical Pro Se Issues. (August 2000). American Judicature Society These web pages discuss several legal and ethical issues related to pro se litigants and are a supplement to Meeting the Challenge of Pro Se Litigation:  An Update of Legal and Ethical Issues, by Nancy Biro (November 1999), updated by Kerry Hill (August 2000). 
Professionalism Codes. American Bar Association This ABA resource lists professionalism codes that have been adopted by various states, local bar associations, and ABA entities for lawyers and judges.
Tacoma, Kenneth L., Honorable. Thanks, Mike. (November 2007). Michigan Bar Journal In this article, Judge Kenneth L. Tacoma discusses how one attorney approached him with an issue that caused him to reconsider established practices within his courtroom.
Utah Code of Judicial Conduct. Judicial Council Rules of Judicial Administration, Utah State Courts See Chapter 12 for the Code of Judicial Conduct.

Judicial Campaign Ethics

Gray, Cynthia. Developments Following Republican Party of Minnesota v. White, 536 U.S. 765 (2002). (September 2008). Center for Judicial Ethics, American Judicature Society This resource tracks developments among state judicial ethics committees after Republican Party of Minnesota v. White. 
Dann, Mike, David Rottman and Lynn Grimes. Focus: Reforming State Judicial Elections. (January 2002). Civil Action, Vol 1, No 2.

This issue highlights the "Call To Action" statement that came out of the Summit on Improving Judicial Selection.
Judicial Campaign Ethics Handbook. (2007). New York State Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics

This resource for judicial candidates addresses issues such as avoiding partisan political activity; becoming a candidate; political activity that is permissible; fund-raising and use of campaign funds; communicating with voters; involving friends, family and colleagues in judicial campaigning; and post-election fund-raising.
Public Financing of Judicial Campaigns: Report of the Commission on Public Financing of Judicial Campaigns. (February 2002). American Bar Association Standing Committee on Judicial Independence This report highlights the findings of the Commission on Public Financing of Judicial Campaigns, which unanimously recommended that states that elect judges in contested elections finance judicial elections with public funds. 
Goldberg, Deborah, Craig Holman and Samantha Sanchez The New Politics of Judicial Elections. (February 2002). Justice at Stake Campaign, the Brennan Center for Justice and the National Institute on Money in State Politics This resource discusses how 2000 was a watershed year for big money, special interest pressure, and TV advertising in state supreme court campaigns.

Recusal Removal and Disqualification

Sample, James et al. Fair Courts: Setting Recusal Standards. (2008). Brennan Center for Justice, New York University School of Law This paper discusses increasing threats to the impartiality of state courts, describes the trends undermining public confidence in the courts and offers ten proposals to strengthen the fairness and legitimacy of state recusal systems.
Flamm, Richard E. Judicial Disqualification: Recusal and Disqualification of Judges. (2007). Banks and Jordan Law Publishing Company

Topic areas covered in this publication include:  disqualification for bias or its appearance; interest and relationship; background, experience and knowledge; judicial conduct, comments and rulings; procedure, timeliness and legal sufficiency; deciding judicial disqualification motions, disqualification in federal court; disqualification in state court; disqualification in special types of proceedings and appeal.  (KF8861 .F62 2007)
Methods of Removing State Judges. American Judicature Society This article provides an overview of the methods of removing state judges and how those methods differ from state to state.

Judicial Conduct Organizations

Gray, Cynthia. Handbook for Members of Judicial Conduct Commissions: How Judicial Conduct Commissions Work-Ethical Standards for Judges. (1999). Chicago: American Judicature Society This resource discusses one- and two-tiered judicial conduct commissions.  ( KF8779.G729 1999 )
Handbook of Procedures and Forms for Judicial Conduct Organizations. (1984). Chicago: American Judicature Society This resource provides a detailed account of the ideal judicial conduct organization.  Issues discussed include how to create a commission and the process of disciplining a judge for misconduct.  The book concludes by discussing how members of these organizations should converse with the media in cases involving high profile judges.  ( KF8779 H3 1984 )
Judicial Ethics Advisory Committees. American Judicature Society This American Judicature Society Web site provides links to state judicial ethics advisory committees that have Web sites.
Silverman, Scott J. National Survey of Judicial Ethics Advisory Organizations. Conference of County Court Judges of Florida A compilation of state statutes and rules for committees, commissions, and panels charged with rendering ethical opinions on judicial conduct.
Practices and Procedures of State Judicial Conduct Organizations. (1990). Chicago: American Judicature Society This resource describes the process a judicial conduct commission uses to address complaints made about judges.  (KF8707 .R67 1990)
State Judicial Conduct Organizations. American Judicature Society This AJS Web site lists the organizations from each state established to investigate allegations of misconduct by state court judges.
David B. Rottman et al. Table 11 - Judicial Discipline: Investigating and Adjudicating Bodies. (2006). State Court Organization, 2004. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics This 50-state summary identifies the judicial disciplinary investigating body and its composition, the adjudicating body, the body with which any appeals are filed, the final disciplining body, and the point at which reprimands are made public.

Court Staff Ethics

Rottman David. Call To Action With Commentary. (2002).

The Call To Action was issued by the participants in the National Summit on Improving Judicial Selection, held on December 8-9, 2000 in Chicago, Illinois. This new edition of the Call To Action provides a commentary that introduces the four sections of the Call To Action and provides background on the 20 recommendations.
Kiefer, Peter and Karl Thoennes. CourtEthics.Org. This resource, maintained by the authors of the "A Question of Ethics" column in NACM's popular The Court Manager quarterly publication, provides links to national and international codes of ethics and ethics commentary specific to the court environment. 
Arkfeld, Honorable Louraine. Ethics: Trends and Precautions. (Fall 2002).

This presentation was given at the National College of Probate Judges' 2002 Fall Conference. It discusses the ABA Model Canons and raises questions on judge's participation in volunteer work, fundraising activities, and educational programs funded by businesses, foundations or other non-governmental entities.
Greacen, John. Legal Information vs. Legal Advice - - Developments in the Last Five Years. American Judicature Society In this article, the author discusses responses to his 1995 article on the difference between legal advice and legal information.
Maintaining the Public Trust: Ethics for Federal Judicial Law Clerks. (2002). Federal Judicial Center

This publication covers confidentiality, conflicts of interest, outside legal activities, dealings with prospective employers, outside professional, social and community activities, and receipt of gifts and honoraria.  It also provides an ethics checklist for federal judicial law clerks.
Your Role as a Court Employee. (2007). Michigan Judicial Institute A self-directed, online course that includes guidance on making ethical decisions.

Ethics Codes for Court Staff

Annotated Model Rules of Professional Conduct. (2003). Chicago: American Bar Association, Center for Professional Responsibility, 5th Ed.

The annotations supply references from case law and other resources.  This volume also contains correlation tables to facilitate reference to the ABA Model Code of Professional Responsibility.  (KF305 .A2 2003)
Arizona Code of Conduct for Judicial Employees. (August 1997). Arizona Supreme Court The code provides definitions and five canons, stating that judicial employees shall uphold the integrity and independence of the judiciary, avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety in all their activities, perform their duties impartially and diligently, conduct their outside activities as to minimize conflicts with employment responsibilities, and refrain from inappropriate political activities.
Code of Conduct for Judicial Employees. (January 1996). Alaska Legal Resource Center The Alaska Code of Conduct includes sections on upholding the integrity of the judiciary, avoiding impropriety, and adhering to appropriate standards in performing duties of the office.
Code of Conduct for Judiciary Employees. (June 2002). Supreme Court, State of New Jersey The New Jersey Supreme Court has adopted a code of conduct for judiciary employees that includes eight canons:  Performance of Duties; Protection of Confidential Information; Avoiding Actual or Apparent Impropriety; Avoiding Actual or Apparent Conflict of Interest; Outside Employment and Activities; Political Activities; Nepotism and Testimonials, Awards and Honors.  ( KF8775 .B378 2006 )
Code of Ethics and Professional Responsibilities. National Association of Judiciary Interpreters and Translators Outlines the eight canons of NAJIT:  accuracy, impartiality and conflict of interest, confidentiality, limitations of practice, protocol and demeanor, maintenance and improvement of skills and knowledge, accurate representation of credentials, and impediments to compliance.
Code of Ethics for Interpreters. Wisconsin Court System

This Web site outlines the Wisconsin code and provides commentary.  Topics include: accuracy and completeness, representation of qualifications, impartiality and avoidance of conflict of interest, professional demeanor, confidentiality, restriction on public comment, scope of practice, assessing and reporting of impediments to performance, duty to report ethical violations, and professional development.
Code of Ethics for the Court Employees of California. California Judicial Council This California code provides guidelines for twelve tenets of employee ethics:  impartiality, personal integrity, professionalism, confidentiality, impropriety, appearance of impropriety, prohibition against giving legal advice, duty to serve, competency, discrimination, harassment, and technology.
Model Code of Conduct for Court Professionals. (October 2007). National Association for Court Management Recently approved by NACM's Board, this model code of ethics is geared toward court professionals.  The code includes four canons and addresses issues regarding impropriety and the appearance of impropriety, impartiality and diligence, outside activities and conflict of interest, and inappropriate political activity.
Model Code of Conduct for Nonjudicial Employees. (2008). American Judicature Society AJS provides a summary and scope for a model code of conduct for nonjudicial employees.  The scope includes: guidelines for abuse of position, confidentiality, conflict of interest, political activities, performance of duties, and court managers. 
Hewitt, William. Model Code of Professional Responsibility for Interpreters in the Judiciary. (1995).

The Model Code is presented in Chapter 9 of Court Interpretation: Model Guides for Interpretation and Practice in the State Courts.
U.S. Federal Courts Codes of Conduct for Judicial Employees. U.S. Administrative Office of the Courts These Web pages provide the code of conduct for judicial employees of the U.S. Courts.

Ethics Organizations

ABA Center for Professional Responsibility. American Bar Association This Web site provides guidance and links that address many of the legal profession's ethical dilemmas.  Task forces and standing committees within the Center periodically produce reports, recommendations and revised rules.
American Inns of Court. AIC is designed to improve the skills, professionalism and ethics of the bench and bar.  An American Inn of Court is an amalgam of judges, lawyers, and in some cases, law professors and law students.  Each Inn meets approximately once a month to hold programs and discussions on matters of ethics, skills and professionalism.
American Judicature Society. The AJS promotes judicial ethics education, as well as a fair and effective system of judicial discipline.  It provides a national directory of judicial conduct organizations, a clearinghouse service for data concerning judicial discipline, descriptions of courses available through its National College on Judicial Conduct and Ethics, and a selection of in-depth articles, such as "An Ethics Guide for Part-Time Lawyer Judges“ and “Key Issues in Judicial Ethics."
Center for Ethics in Government. National Council for State Legislatures Maintained by the NCSL, the Center Web site includes links to state ethics laws, ethics-training resources and ethics committees.
United States Office of Government Ethics. The OGE provides information on the latest developments in the Office of Government Ethics, laws and regulations, advisory opinions, training modules and seminars, forms, and publications.  Technical assistance for ethics is also available.

Attorney Ethics

A National Action Plan on Lawyer Conduct and Professionalism. (1999). Conference of Chief Justices The Conference of Chief Justices' Report of the Working Group on Lawyer Conduct and Professionalism is available online and in the NCSC library.  The library copy also includes a report on the conference on Regulatory Authority over the Legal Profession and the Judiciary:  The Responsibility of State Supreme Courts, which includes information on the role of state courts of last resort in handling matters of professionalism with lawyers and with judges.  (KF308 .N25 1999) 
McCauley, James M. Current Ethical and Unauthorized Practice Issues Relating to Endeavors to Assist Pro Se Litigants. (December 2002). Access to Legal Services This article discusses unauthorized practice of law considerations, ethical concerns with regard to unbundling legal services, and legal advice vs. legal information.
ETHICSearch. Center for Professional Responsibility, American Bar Association This Web site provides links to relevant ABA rules and opinions and other resources.  Lawyers may also e-mail their ethics questions and receive citations to legal authorities that should help answer their questions. 
Creamer, Robert A. Form Over Federalism: The Case for Consistency in State Ethics Rules Formats. (Spring 2002). Professional Lawyer Creamer discusses the different ways in which state ethics rules are organized, and includes six conventions for consistency to prevent confusion in numbering and to promote ease in inserting state-specific or new material.
Hannaford, Paula. National Action Plan on Lawyer Conduct: A Role for the Judge in Improving Professionalism in the Legal System. (Fall 1999). Court Review For the past several years, professionalism and legal ethics have emerged as high priority items on the policy agendas of the legal community at virtually every level of organization.
National Organization of Bar Council. This organization provides a semiannual compilation of ethics cases and includes the complete staff roster of every state ethics agency and a collection of links to notable ethics sites.
Task Force on the Model Definition of the Practice of Law. Center for Professional Responsibility, American Bar Association This Task Force Web site includes the final recommendation and report on the definition of the practice of law, and maintains links to other useful information, such as state by State Definitions of the Practice of Law, and correlating codes.
Machado, Glenn. The State Bar of Nevada`s Ethics Hotline: Reducing the Number of Bar Complaints Since 1994. (January 2010). Nevada Lawyer The Nevada state Bar hosts a toll-free Ethics Hotline that assists thousands of attorneys each year with ethics questions based on Nevada's Rules of Professional Conduct. 

Lawyer Assistance Programs

ABA Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs. American Bar Association The Commission's Web site features links to its newsletter, a Directory of Local Programs with contact information and Internet addresses for Lawyer Assistance Programs in all 50 states, and Chemical Dependency and Self-Help Sites to help lawyers and others with dependency issues or other needs.
Edwards, Timothy D. and Gregory J. Van Rybroek. Addiction and Attorneys: Confronting the Denial. (August 2007). Wisconsin Lawyer, 80, No. 8 Lawyers and other professional groups are becoming increasingly open about discussing addiction and other mental health issues.  In this article, the authors debunk myths about addiction, and explain how addiction affects lawyers and what treatment options are available for recovery.
Lawyers Helping Lawyers. This Virginia program provides confidential, non-disciplinary help for lawyers, judges, law students, and their family members with substance abuse or mental health problems.
Lawyers with Depression.com. This Web site is dedicated to helping laywers and judges suffering from depression address the peculiarities of legal practice or sitting on the bench while taking steps to address depression.
Clark, John W. We`re from the Bar, and We`re Here to Help You. (October 2004). GPSolo, 21, No. 7 This is a brief history of the lawyer-assistance program (LAP) and a description of the many services available through such programs.