A California judicial ethics committee on Tuesday issued a formal opinion with guidance for judges responding to public criticism during a judicial election or recall campaign.

The guidance was issued by the California Supreme Court Committee on Judicial Ethics Opinions (CJEO)—a body which is appointed and authorized by, but works independently of, the California Supreme Court.

In CJEO Formal Opinion 2024-027, the committee analyzes the 2020 amendment to canon 3B(9) of the Code of Judicial Ethics, which permits, in connection with a judicial election or recall campaign, any judge to make a public comment about a pending proceeding, subject to certain restrictions. The committee outlines the ethical guardrails on the wider latitude judges now have to publicly respond to criticism:

• The comment may not affect the outcome or fairness of the proceeding; and
• It must be about the procedural, factual, or legal basis of a decision about which a judge has been criticized during an election or recall campaign.

The committee issued a draft of the opinion for public comment on August 5.