William K. Oliver has written a call for help with respect to resolutions pending before the American Bar Association meeting later this summer,

The Judicial Division (JD) urgently needs your assistance regarding two proposed resolutions currently pending before the American Bar Association (ABA) House of Delegates (HOD) that affect the Model Code of Judicial Conduct ethics rules on judicial disqualification requirements regarding election campaign contributions. JD supports proposed Resolution 10 B and opposes proposed Resolution 108. The reasons for JD’s support for 10 B and opposition to 108 are expressed in the Judicial Division Executive Summary Regarding Proposed Resolutions 10 B and 108, which you are invited to review on Division’s website at http://www.americanbar.org/jd.

These resolutions are expected to be presented for a vote by the HOD at the ABA Annual Meeting in August 2013 in San Francisco, CA. While negotiations have taken place between JD and the proponents of proposed Resolution 108 to modify the language of 108 in a manner that would be acceptable to JD, it does not now appear that such negotiations will be successful.

Accordingly, JD requests that all JD members who have a personal connection to state delegates to the HOD or otherwise feel comfortable contacting them contact those delegates and persuade them to vote for Proposed Resolution 10 B and against Proposed Resolution 108 so judges can avoid what JD perceives as dire negative consequences. If you need to see a list of your state delegates to determine whether you have a personal connection or otherwise feel comfortable contacting them, or if you want to see copies of the resolutions, please contact Denise Jimenez at denise.jimenez@americanbar.org or by phone at 312-988-5723.