Constitutional Law

Judicial Conference Adopts Stricter Ethics Standards

Under a revised code taking effect July 1, judges will now recuse themselves looking to more stringent ethical standards. However, the new rules still leave recusal decisions in the individual judge's hands. 

For the first time, the Judicial Conference adopted a definition of 'appearance of impropriety,' for judges to avoid by recusing themselves in certain cases. The Conference determined that, 'An appearance of impropriety occurs when reasonable minds, with knowledge of all the relevant circumstance disclosed by a reasonable inquiry, would conclude that the judge's honesty, integrity, impartiality, temperament, or fitness to serve as a judge is impaired.'

The new standard was adopted nearly two weeks after the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Caperton v. Massey, in which the justices expressed some level of disagreement with an elected state judge's failure to recuse himself from a case involving a major campaign donor.

The Judicial Conference also agreed to ask Congress to create 12 new judgeships for federal appellate courts and 51 new positions at the district court level. Both senior members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), supported the call for new judgeships in addressing to the Conference.

Full post as published by ACS Blog on March 18, 2009 (boomark / email).