Contact:
Lorri Montgomery
Director of Communications
National Center for State Courts
757.259.1525
lmontgomery@ncsc.dni.us
Conference
of Chief Justices: “Appearance of Impropriety”
Must Remain Enforceable in the Model Code of Judicial Conduct
New
Orleans (Feb. 7, 2007)
– The Conference of
Chief Justices (CCJ) voted Wednesday to oppose an American Bar
Association Commission report on revising the Model Code of Judicial
Conduct, in light of the Commission’s decision to abandon the
“appearance of impropriety” as a basis for disciplinary action.
CCJ adopted a Resolution urging the ABA’s House of Delegates to
return to the rule about “appearance of impropriety” which has
prevailed since 1924, and then to act expeditiously on the Joint
Commission’s Report so that it could be considered by the individual
states.”
CCJ
adopted the Resolution as it concluded its midyear education and
business meeting in New Orleans. The Conference is composed of the
highest judicial officers of each state, the District of Columbia, the
Commonwealths of Puerto Rico and the Northern Mariana Islands, the
Territories of American Samoa, Guam and the Virgin Islands. CCJ’s
mission is to provide education and consultation among judicial leaders
on issues related to improving the administration of justice. The
National Center for State Courts serves as secretariat to the
Conference.
Chief
Judge Robert M. Bell of the Maryland Court of Appeals and the President
of the Conference of Chief Justices said: “While we are pleased that
the Joint Commission has worked closely with the Conference of Chief
Justices during the revision process, we are disappointed that the
original draft of the proposed revision has been amended at the last
minute to eliminate ‘appearance of impropriety’ as a basis for
disciplinary enforcement.
“The
Conference is of the view that this longstanding concept should remain
in the Model Code both as an aspirational goal for judges and the basis
for disciplinary enforcement,” Chief Judge Bell said.
For
nearly four years the ABA Joint Commission has been evaluating and
conducting hearings on how the Model Code of Judicial Conduct should be
revised. The commission’s recommended revisions will go before the
ABA’s House of Delegates, which meets next week in Miami, for
approval.
The
National Center for State Courts, headquartered in Williamsburg, VA, was
founded in 1971 by court leaders and with the support of Chief Justice
Warren E. Burger of the U.S. Supreme Court.
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National
Center
for State Courts, 300 Newport Avenue, Williamsburg,
VA
23185-4147
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