Rule Text
(A) A magisterial district judge shall not hold membership in any organization that practices invidious discrimination on the basis of race, sex, gender identity or expression, religion, national origin, ethnicity, disability or sexual orientation.
(B) A magisterial district judge shall not use the benefits or facilities of an organization if the magisterial district judge knows or should know that the organization practices invidious discrimination on one or more of the bases identified in paragraph (A). A magisterial district judge’s attendance at an event in a facility of an organization that the magisterial district judge is not permitted to join is not a violation of this Rule when the magisterial district judge’s attendance is an isolated event that could not reasonably be perceived as an endorsement of the organization’s practices.
Amendment history: The provisions of this Rule 3.6 amended April 25, 2018, effective July 1, 2018, 48 Pa.B. 2757. Immediately preceding text appears at serial pages (373718) to (373719).
Committee Notes
(1) A magisterial district judge’s public manifestation of approval of invidious discrimination on any basis gives rise to the appearance of impropriety and diminishes public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary. A magisterial district judge’s membership in an organization that practices invidious discrimination creates the perception that the magisterial district judge’s impartiality is impaired.
(2) An organization is generally said to discriminate invidiously if it arbitrarily excludes from membership on the basis of race, sex, gender identity or expression, religion, national origin, ethnicity, disability or sexual orientation persons who would otherwise be eligible for admission. Whether an organization practices invidious discrimination is a complex question to which magisterial district judges should be attentive. The answer cannot be determined from a mere examination of an organization’s current membership rolls, but rather, depends upon how the organization selects members, as well as other relevant factors, such as whether the organization is dedicated to the preservation of religious, ethnic, or cultural values of legitimate common interest to its members, or whether it is an intimate, purely private organization whose membership limitations could not constitutionally be prohibited.
(3) When a magisterial district judge learns that an organization to which the magisterial district judge belongs engages in invidious discrimination, the magisterial district judge must resign immediately from the organization.
(4) A magisterial district judge’s membership in a religious organization as a lawful exercise of the freedom of religion is not a violation of this Rule.
(5) This Rule does not apply to national or state military service.
