As of August 31, 2016
AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION
CPR POLICY IMPLEMENTATION COMMITTEE
COMPARISON OF ABA MODEL JUDICIAL CODE AND STATE VARIATIONS
RULE 2.4: External Influences on Judicial Conduct
(A) A judge shall not be swayed by public clamor or fear of criticism.
(B) A judge shall not permit family, social, political, financial, or other interests or
relationships to influence the judge’s judicial conduct or judgment.
(C) A judge shall not convey or permit others to convey the impression that any
person or organization is in a position to influence the judge.
COMMENT
[1] An independent judiciary requires that judges decide cases according to the law and facts,
without regard to whether particular laws or litigants are popular or unpopular with the public, the
media, government officials, or the judge’s friends or family. Confidence in the judiciary is
eroded if judicial decision making is perceived to be subject to inappropriate outside influences.
Nineteen (19) states have identical language (AR, CO, DC, HI, IN, IA, KS, MD, MN, MT, NE,
NH, NV, OH, OK, PA, TN, UT, and WY)
Ten (10) states have similar language (AZ, CT, DE, ME, MO, NM, ND, OR, SD, and WA)
AL
AK
AZ
Effective
9/1/2009
AR
Effective
7/1/2009
CA
CO
Effective
7/1/2010
CT
Effective
1/1/2011
DE
Effective
11/1/2008
(A): adds “partisan interests” before “public clamor”
Identical
Identical
Title: Adds “or Judgment”
(A): Adds “in the performance of the judge’s judicial duties” after “swayed” and before “by”;
(C): replaces “judge” with “judge’s” and adds to end: “judge’s judicial conduct or judgment”
Comment: Replaces last sentence with “The integrity of judicial decision making is undermined
if it is based in whole or in part upon inappropriate outside influences.”
(A): replaces “shall not be swayed” with “should be unswayed” and adds “partisan interests”
before “public clamor”
(B): replaces “shall” with “should” and deletes “political, financial”
(C): replaces “shall” with “should” and “that any person or organization is” with “they are”
Deletes Comment
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As of August 31, 2016
DC
Effective
1/1/12
FL
HI
Effective
1/1/2009
ID
Effective
7/1/2016
IL
IN
Effective
1/1/2009
IA
Effective
5/3/2010
KS
Effective
3/1/2009
KY
MD
Effective
7/1/2010
MA
Effective
1/1/2015
ME
Effective
9/1/2015
MI
MN
Effective
7/1/2009
MO
Effective
1/1/2012
MS
MT
Effective
1/1/2009
NE
Effective
1/1/2011
NV
Effective
Identical
Identical
(C): Adds “improperly” before “influence” and “or coerce” before “the judge”
Identical
Identical
Identical
Identical
(A): Adds “partisan interests” before “public clamor”
Deletes Model Code (C)
Identical
(A) Adds “partisan interests” before “public clamor”
(B) Replaces “financial” interests with “religious;” Deletes “interests” before “relationships”
[1] Adds to the start: “A fair, impartial, and”
Identical
Identical
Identical
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As of August 31, 2016
1/19/2010
NH
Effective
4/1/2011
NJ
NM
Effective
1/1/2012
NY
NC
ND
Effective
7/1/2012
OH
Effective
3/1/2009
OK
Effective
4/15/2011
OR
Effective
12/1/2013
Identical
(A) Replaces “public clamor” for “public opinion”
(B) Replaces “financial” with “economic”
Identical
Identical
OR Rule 3.4 Title is identical to MCJC Rule 2.4.
3.4(A) is identical to MCJC Rule 2.4(A)
3.4(B) is similar to MCJC Rule 2.4(B): inserts the word “improperly” before “influence”
PA
Effective
7/1/2014
SD
Effective
1/1/2006
TX
TN
Effective
7/1/12
UT
Effective
4/1/2010
VT
VA
WA
Effective
3.4(C) is similar to MCJC Rule 3.4(C): inserts the word “improperly” before “influence”
Identical
Model Code Rule 2.4 (A) corresponds to the 2nd sentence of SD Canon 3B (2). Same, but the
Model Code excludes “partisan interests” from the list.
Model Code Rule 2.4 (B) corresponds to the 1st sentence of SD Canon 2B. Similar, but the Model
Code adds “financial or other interests” to the list.
Model Code Rule 2.4 (C) corresponds to the 2nd half of the 2nd sentence of SD Canon 2B. Same as
Model Code.
(A): Adds “partisan interests” before “public clamor”
Identical
[1] Deletes “An independent judiciary requires that” before “judges”; Deletes all of second
sentence.
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As of August 31, 2016
1/1/2011
WV
Effective
12/1/2015
WI
WY
Effective
7/1/2009
Identical
Identical
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chart is to be considered the rendering of legal advice. The chart is intended for
educational and informational purposes only. We make every attempt to keep the chart as
accurate as possible. If you are aware of any inaccuracies in the chart, please send your
corrections or additions and the source of that information to John Holtaway, (312) 9885298, [email protected]
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