Rule 3.1. Extrajudicial Activities in General.
Judges shall regulate their extrajudicial activities to minimize the risk of conflict with their judicial duties and to comply with all provisions of this Canon. However, a judge shall not:
(A) participate in activities that will interfere with the proper performance of the judge’s judicial duties;
(B) participate in activities that will lead to frequent disqualification of the judge;
(C) participate in activities that would reasonably appear to undermine the judge’s independence, integrity, or impartiality;
(D) engage in conduct that would reasonably appear to be coercive; or
(E) make use of court premises, staff, stationery, equipment, or other resources, except for incidental use for activities that concern the law, the legal system, or the administration of justice, or unless such additional use is permitted by law.
Comment: (1) To the extent that time permits, and judicial independence and impartiality are not compromised, judges are encouraged to engage in appropriate extrajudicial activities. Judges are uniquely qualified to engage in extrajudicial activities that concern the law, the legal system, and the administration of justice, such as by speaking, writing, teaching, or participating in scholarly research projects. In addition, judges are permitted and encouraged to engage in educational, religious, charitable, fraternal or civic extrajudicial activities not conducted for profit, even when the activities do not involve the law. See Rule 3.7.
(2) Participation in both law-related and other extrajudicial activities helps integrate judges into their communities, and furthers public understanding of and respect for courts and the judicial system.
(3) Discriminatory actions and expressions of bias or prejudice by a judge, even outside the judge’s official or judicial actions, are likely to appear to a reasonable person to call into question the judge’s integrity and impartiality.
Examples include jokes or other remarks that demean individuals based upon their race, sex, gender identity or expression, religion, national origin, ethnicity, disability, age, sexual orientation, or socioeconomic status. For the same reason, a judge’s extrajudicial activities must not be conducted in connection or affiliation with an organization that practices invidious discrimination. See Rule 3.6.
(4) While engaged in permitted extrajudicial activities, judges must not coerce others or take action that would reasonably be perceived as coercive.
(5) Paragraph (E) of this Rule is not intended to prohibit a judge’s occasional use of office resources, such as a telephone, for personal purposes.
Source The provisions of this Rule 3.1 amended April 25, 2018, effective July 1, 2018, 48 Pa.B. 2757. Immediately preceding text appears at serial pages (370683) to (370684).
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