TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on Feb 24, 2026

Federal judges may address “illegitimate forms of criticism and attacks,” according to a new advisory ethics opinion from the U.S. Judicial Conference’s Committee on Codes of Conduct. According to the ABA Journal, Opinion No. 118 states that federal judges may publicly oppose the “persecution of lawyers and judges” but need to “favor reasoned discourse and respectful language over demeaning rhetoric or acerbic criticism.” The opinion also states that judges may make public statements about the need for judicial security, independence of the judiciary or the rule of law in general, including why these values are crucial to our system of government. The opinion concludes with this warning: “With respect to some particularly controversial topics, judges should be mindful that simply addressing certain topics might be viewed as taking a partisan position or reflecting a lack of impartiality.”