Opinion
July 1, 2005.
Under the authority vested in this Court in matters relating to the retirement and discipline of members of the judiciary, Canon 4 of the Code of Judicial Conduct is amended to read as follows (deletions shown by striking and new text shown byunderlining):
CANON 4. A Judge Shall so Conduct the Judge's Extra-Judicial Activities as to Minimize the Risk of Conflict With Judicial Obligations
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C. Governmental, Civic or Charitable Activities.
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(3) A judge may serve as an officer, director, trustee or non-legal advisor of an organization or governmental agency devoted to the improvement of the law, the legal system or the administration of justice, or of an educational, religious, charitable, fraternal or civic organization not conducted for profit, subject to the following limitations and the other requirements of this Code.
(a) A judge shall not serve as an officer, director, trustee or non-legal advisor if it is likely that the organization
(i) will be engaged in proceedings that would ordinarily come before the judge, or
(ii) will be engaged frequently in adversary proceedings in the court of which the judge is a member or in any court subject to the appellate jurisdiction of the court of which the judge is a member.
(b) A judge as an officer, director, trustee or non-legal advisor, or as a member or otherwise:
(i) may assist such an organization in planning fund-raising and may participate in the management and investment of the organization's funds, but shall not personally participate in the solicitation of funds or other equivalent fund-raising activities, except that a judge may solicit funds from other judges over whom the judge does not exercise supervisory or appellate authority;
(ii) may make recommendations to public and private fund-granting organizations on projects, programs and the provision of services;
(iii) shall not personally participate in membership solicitation if the solicitation might reasonably be perceived as coercive or, except as permitted in Section 4C(3)(b)(i), if the membership solicitation is essentially a fund-raising mechanism;
(iv) shall not use or permit the use of the prestige of judicial office for fund-raising or membership solicitation.and (v) may engage in activities intended to encourage attorneys to perform pro bono services, including participating in events to recognize attorneys who do pro bono work.
Commentary
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A judge must not be a speaker or guest of honor at an organization's fund-raising event, but mere attendance at such an event is permissible if otherwise consistent with this Code.
Support of pro bono legal services by members of the bench is an activity that relates to the improvement of the legal system and the administration of justice. Accordingly, a judge may engage in activities intended to encourage attorneys to perform pro bono services, including, but not limited to: recruiting attorneys to do pro bono work, participating in events to recognize attorneys who do pro bono work, establishing general procedural or scheduling accommodations for pro bono attorneys as feasible, and acting in an advisory capacity to pro bono programs.
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These amendments shall take effect January 1, 2006.
The Clerk of this Court is directed to forward a copy of this order to the clerk of each circuit court in the state of Indiana; Attorney General of Indiana; Legislative Services Agency and its Office of Code Revision; Administrator, Indiana Supreme Court; Administrator, Indiana Court of Appeals; Administrator, Indiana Tax Court; Public Defender of Indiana; Prosecuting Attorney's Council; Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission; Indiana Supreme Court Commission for Continuing Legal Education; Indiana Board of Law Examiners; Indiana Judicial Center; Division of State Court Administration; Indiana Judges and Lawyers Assistance Program; the libraries of all law schools in this state; the Michie Company; and the West Group.
The West Group is directed to publish this Order in the advance sheets of this Court.
The Clerks of the Circuit Courts are directed to bring this Order to the attention of all judges within their respective counties and to post this Order for examination by the Bar and general public.
DONE at Indianapolis, Indiana, this ______ day of July, 2005.
All Justices concur.