Rule 21-400 Canon 4.

Committee commentary. —

[1] The public’s perception of a fair and impartial judiciary may be greatly affected by the manner in which judges or candidates for judicial office comport themselves. This Canon imposes narrowly tailored restrictions upon the political and campaign activities of all judges and judicial candidates, taking into account the various methods of selecting judges. Campaigns for judicial office must be conducted differently from campaigns for other offices. The narrowly drafted restrictions upon political and campaign activities of judicial candidates provided in Canon 4 allow candidates to conduct campaigns that provide voters with sufficient information to permit them to distinguish between candidates and make informed electoral choices.

[2] Even when subject to public election, a judge plays a role different from that of other elected officials. Rather than making decisions based upon the expressed views or preferences of the electorate, a judge makes decisions based upon the law and the facts of every case. Therefore, in furtherance of this interest, judges and judicial candidates must, to the greatest extent possible, be free from political influence and political pressure. So too, the public’s perception of a fair and impartial judiciary may be greatly affected by the manner in which judges or candidates for judicial office comport themselves. This canon imposes narrowly tailored restrictions upon the political and campaign activities of all judges and judicial candidates, taking into account the various methods of selecting judges.

[3] When a person becomes a judicial candidate, this Canon becomes applicable to his or her conduct.

[4] Rule 21-401 NMRA addresses the limitations on the political activities of judges generally, and who are not currently running for judicial office. Rule 21-402 NMRA establishes the boundaries for political and campaign activities that circumscribe the conduct of judges and non-judges who are judicial candidates engaged in a partisan, non-partisan, or retention election. Rule 21-403 NMRA addresses the limitations on activities of candidates seeking appointment to judicial office. Rule 21-404 NMRA requires that candidates for judicial office create campaign committees and establishes the rules for those campaign committees. Rule 21-405 NMRA addresses the activities of judges who either become candidates for or seek appointment to a non-judicial office. Finally, Rule 21-406 NMRA creates the mechanism for investigating and resolving violations of the Code, including challenges for violations of the Code in election campaigns.