Judges’ rules ban fraternal orders that discriminate

Monday, Jan. 31, 2000 | 11:08 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- The Nevada Supreme Court is issuing new rules that will prohibit judges from belonging to fraternal groups that discriminate on the basis of race, sex, religion or national origin but allow judges to speak at fund-raising events that recruit lawyers to provide free services.

The current regulations on judges' activities outside the courtroom, last updated in 1991, kept judges from groups that discriminate but did not specify fraternal group.

"Membership of a judge in an organization that practices invidious discrimination gives rise to perceptions that the judge's impartiality is impaired," say the new rules, which go into effect today.

Judges who belong to clubs or organizations that discriminate should resign or make an effort to change the practice, the rules advise. If the group's rules do not change, the judge must leave the group. The new rules, published Friday, also clarify what role judges can take in fund-raising for educational, religious, charitable, fraternal or a civic nonprofit organizations. Their names can appear on the letterhead of the organization with others in fund-raising appeals, the high court says. But the jurists are prohibited from personally seeking donations, except from fellow judges whom they do not supervise.

"A judge shall not be a speaker or guest of honor at an organization's event that is primarily for fund-raising or membership solicitation purposes," the rules say. "However a judge may speak or be honored at other events or meetings held by the organization."

Judges may also be the speaker or guest of honor at fund-raisers for groups that provide free legal services.

The new rules say that a "judge may assist an organization in recruiting attorneys so long as the recruitment effort cannot reasonably be perceived as coercive." While a judge can provide a general endorsement to a group, "A judge must not engage in direct, individual recruitment of attorneys in person, in writing or by telephone," the rules say.

The new rules were drafted after suggestions were gathered from judges, the Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline, the board of governors of the State Bar of Nevada, the Standing Committee on Judicial Ethics and Election Practices, legal service organizations, lawyers and the public.

The rules keep judges from serving as officers in an organization that is engaged frequently in lawsuits, such as charitable hospitals, which find themselves in court more now than in the past.

One new rule deals with when a judge should step aside in a case. It says, "The mere receipt of a campaign contribution from a witness, litigant or lawyer involved with a proceeding is not grounds for disqualification." This mirrors a recent decision by the Supreme Court in which a judge disqualified himself because he had accepted a campaign contribution from one of the parties in the suit.

The rules also put judges in line with laws on campaign contributions and financial reports for other candidates. The rules noted, "Nothing in this canon prohibits a judge from speaking to a political organization."