Rule 3.7 Participation in Educational, Religious, Charitable, Fraternal, or Civic Organizations and Activities
Canon 3: A judge should regulate extra-judicial activities to minimize the risk of conflict with judicial duties
Rule Text
A judge may participate in civic and charitable activities that do not reflect adversely upon the judge's independence, integrity, impartiality or interfere with the performance of judicial duties. A judge may serve as an officer, director, trustee, or non-legal advisor of an educational, religious, charitable, fraternal, or civic organization not conducted for the economic or political advantage of its members, subject to the following limitations:
(A) A judge should not serve if it is likely that the organization will be engaged in proceedings that would ordinarily come before the judge or will be regularly engaged in adversary proceedings in any court.
Comment:
The changing nature of some organizations and of their relationship to the law makes it necessary for a judge regularly to re-examine the activities of each organization with which the judge is affiliated to determine if it is proper for the judge to continue the judge's relationship with it. For example, in many jurisdictions charitable hospitals are now more frequently in court than in the past. Similarly, the boards of some legal aid organizations now make policy decisions that may have political significance or imply commitment to causes that may come before the courts for adjudication.
(B) A judge should not solicit funds for any educational, religious, charitable, fraternal, or civic organization, or use or permit the use of the prestige of the judicial office for that purpose, but the judge may be listed as an officer, director, or trustee of such an organization. A judge should not personally participate in membership solicitation if the solicitation might reasonably be perceived as coercive or is essentially a fund-raising mechanism.
(C) A judge should not give investment advice to such an organization, but may serve on its board of directors or trustees even though it has the responsibility for approving investment decisions.
Comment:
A judge's participation in an organization devoted to quasi-judicial activities is governed by Rule 3.1. A judge may attend fund-raising activities of the organization although the judge may not be a speaker, a guest of honor, or featured on the program of such an event. Use of an organization's letterhead for fund-raising or membership solicitation does not violate these Rules, provided the letterhead lists only the judge's name and position in the organization, and, if comparable designations are listed for other persons, the judge's judicial designation.