New amendments were adopted in a unanimous decision by the Supreme Court of California on August 26, 2015 to revise the California Code of Judicial Ethics. The changes reflected recommendations put forth by the court’s Advisory Committee on the Code of Judicial Ethics whose mission is to promote public trust and confidence in the judiciary, to ensure the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary, and to provide useful guidance to California’s judicial officers and candidates for judicial office as they serve on the bench or stand for election.
The three main topic areas covered included:
1) Disclosure of campaign contributions: “…judge may satisfy the disclosure requirement regarding campaign contributions by stating the disclosure orally on the record in open court if all the parties and lawyers are present in court.”
2) Scholarships/fellowships and rewards/prizes: “Canon 4D(6), which prohibits judges from accepting gifts from anyone (with enumerated exceptions), has been amended to move exceptions for acceptance of scholarships/fellowships and rewards/prizes to a new canon 4D(7).”
3) Mandatory ethics education for judicial candidates: “Canon 5B(3), which requires judicial candidates to complete a judicial campaign ethics course, has been amended to extend to the possibility of a judge’s name appearing on the ballot as a result of a petition under Elections Code section 8203.”
To read the full story and review all amendments and revisions, visit the California Courts website.