Opinion
Opinion delivered January 29, 1996
The Arkansas Bar Association and the Association's Special Committee on the Model Code of Judicial Conduct jointly petition this court to amend Canon 5(A)(3)(d)(ii), which deals with prohibited statements by judicial candidates during political campaigns. The petition requests that we strike the existing subsection and substitute therefor the following language:
(ii) make statements that commit or appear to commit the candidate with respect to cases, controversies or issues that are likely to come before the court; or. . . .
In their petition, the petitioners state that the existing subsection (ii) has been held to be unconstitutional as impermissibly restraining the First Amendment free speech rights of judicial candidates. See Beshear v. Butt, 863 F. Supp. 913 (E.D. Ark. 1994). The Judicial Discipline Commission was permanently enjoined by the district court from enforcing the language that currently appears in subsection (ii). The proposed language by the petitioners is identical to the language proposed by the American Bar Association.
The petition has merit. Accordingly, we strike the existing subsection (ii) and adopt the above-stated language as Canon 5(A)(3)(d)(ii), to be effective immediately.