Judges Must Show Fairness Off Bench, Not Just On It, ABA Says

To fulfill their ethical obligations, judges must pay attention to both “substance and perception,” the American Bar Association says in a new ethics opinion.

Preserving public confidence in the judiciary requires that “judicial fairness must be real, and it must be seen to be real,” says the ABA opinion released Wednesday.

The ABA’s ethics rules “extend well beyond” judges’ conduct on the bench, by also making sure they administer their chambers and treat their court staff “with the same fairness and neutrality that guide adjudication,” the ABA says in the opinion that provides ethical guidance when judges are “exercising administrative, ...