Supreme Court Committee Provides Guidance on Disqualifications Triggered by Judicial Campaign Contributions
The California Supreme Court Committee on Judicial Ethics which is an independent
committee appointed by the Supreme Court to help inform the judiciary
and the public concerning judicial ethics topics, has provided guidance
that prohibits trial court judges from hearing cases where one of the
lawyers in the case contributed more than $1,500 to the judge’s
campaign.
The
Supreme Court committee concluded in that disqualification is mandatory
for contributions over $1,500 from individual lawyers, but judges must
also consider whether aggregated contributions from a group of lawyers
or a law firm might cause a reasonable person to doubt the judge’s
impartiality and require disqualification. The opinion is the first
advisory opinion in the country to address aggregated and law firm
contributions.
