Judges’s Updated Codes of Conduct Volume Now Available

It is in every judge’s chambers and every clerk’s office in every federal courthouse. Next to the federal civil and criminal codes, it’s probably the most frequently consulted book in a judge’s chambers. It’s Volume II of the Guide to Judiciary Policies and Procedures—the Codes of Conduct volume.

The Judicial Conference Committee on Codes of Conduct recently reissued this ethical manual, replacing the old one in its entirety. The reissuance provides the most up-to-date versions of the Codes of Conduct, published advisory opinions, and ethics regulations. Also included is the 1999 edition of the Compendium of Selected Opinions, which summarizes unpublished advice of the committee.

“Ethics materials are continually updated,” according to Judge Carol Bagley Amon (E.D. NY), chair of the Committee on Codes of Conduct, “and we add new materials to this volume every year. We hope that by reissuing the entire volume judges can be certain they are consulting the most current information.” Updated volumes will have Transmittal 13 in the upper right corner of each page.