Litigation

IN Judicial Ethics Rule Survives Challenge

By Peter Hardin

A federal appeals court has rejected a second attempt by an anti-abortion group to challenge an Indiana ethics rule barring judges from telling their views about abortions.

The Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the challenge brought by Indiana Right to Life Inc. was not legally ripe, according to a National Law Journal article, and affirmed a lower court ruling that upheld Indiana’s Code of Judicial Conduct.

The appeals court did not decide the issue of whether Indiana’s rule conflicts with a 2002 U.S. Supreme Court decision, Republican Party of Minnesota v. White.

In that case, the Supreme Court struck down an ethics rule that barred judicial candidates from stating their views ?on disputed legal or political issues.? The ruling dramatically accelerated the politicization of judicial elections.

To learn more about that decision and its implications, check out Justice at Stake’s issues page on judicial speech.

Full post as published by The Gavel on August 31, 2010 (boomark / email).