NASHVILLE, Tenn. - New ethics rules for judges were adopted Wednesday, barring them from making political contributions and requiring them to step aside in some cases involving their own campaign contributors.
The Tennessee Supreme Court set the rules against the backdrop of an upcoming battle in the legislature over the Tennessee Court of the Judiciary, an ethics panel for judges. Lawmakers have complained that the panel is not doing enough to police judges.
The rules, proposed by the state bar association, go into effect in July. They were in the works before lawmakers began considering making changes to the ethics panel that disciplines judges, Tennessee Bar Association executive director Allan Ramsaur said. However, he said he hopes members of the General Assembly will take them into consideration.
"We're hopeful that these comprehensive, clear and workable rules address the concerns that many lawmakers have had," Ramsaur said.
The new rules follow the American Bar Association's model rules for judicial conduct.
Ramsaur said barring judges from making contributions to political candidates or organizations was important because the donations could later raise questions about a judge's impartiality. Judges are allowed to purchase tickets to attend campaign events.
Ramsaur said Tennessee's rules went further than the ABA's because they require judges to step aside in some cases involving parties who have contributed to the judge's own election campaign or an opponent's campaign.
The rules don't completely bar judges from cases involving contributors, but Ramsaur said judges would be excluded from cases involving contributors who've channeled funds in such a way that they exceed the normal contribution limits.
The new rules will also allow for a fast-track appeal to determine whether a judge should step aside from a case because of a possible conflict of interest. The expedited appeal allows the appellate courts to order judges to step down from cases before they go to trial, sparing the expense of retrying the case.
"I think it's a wonderful step in the right direction," Murfreesboro attorney Ken Burger said.
Berger represents a couple who asked former Davidson County Circuit Court Judge Barbara Haynes to step down from a case involving Vanderbilt University Medical Center because the judge was a member of the board of directors at the children's hospital at Vanderbilt.
Haynes refused to step down and dismissed the case against Vanderbilt. Last year, the Tennessee Court of Appeals ordered the judge off the case and revived the lawsuit involving the death of the 12-year-old Rachel Olerud.
The hospital, in court documents, has adamantly denied being responsible.
Burger said his clients would have been spared a substantial amount of money had they been able to make the appeal earlier.
"It would have saved everybody a lot of time, a lot of money, a lot of emotional grief," he said, noting that the case is now going into its sixth year.
The new rules also instruct judges to take "appropriate action" if they see that another judge or attorney is impaired by alcohol, drugs, or mental or physical disability. The high court's office was flooded this year with requests to stop retrials in the case of four defendants charged in the torture and slaying of a young Knoxville couple. The retrials were ordered because the presiding judge, then-Criminal Court Judge Richard Baumgartner, was intoxicated at the time of the trials. He was disbarred in October.
The rules also impose a duty on judges to report other judges or lawyers they know who have committed an ethics violation that raises a substantial question of their honesty, trustworthy or fitness.