ABA Adopts Unopposed City Bar Resolution on Supreme Court Ethics
Urges Supreme Court to Adopt a Binding and Enforceable Ethics Code
New York, NY – February 3, 2025 – The American Bar Association has adopted an unopposed resolution proposed by the New York City Bar Association urging the Supreme Court to “adopt a binding ethics code for the Supreme Court that is as strict as the Code of Conduct for United States Judges, adopted by the Judicial Conference of the United States, including a Supreme Court-adopted appropriate enforcement mechanism.” The ABA further urges federal, state, local, territorial, and affinity bar associations to urge the Supreme Court to adopt a binding and enforceable ethics code.
The ABA’s report in support of the resolution is an abbreviated version of a comprehensive analysis and report issued by the City Bar in October 2024: “The Supreme Court Needs a Mandatory and Enforceable Code of Ethics.” That report was drafted under the auspices of a working group consisting of members of several City Bar committees including the Rule of Law Task Force, Federal Courts Committee, Professional Responsibility Committee, and Professional Ethics Committee.
The resolution was submitted by City Bar President Muhammad U. Faridi on behalf of the City Bar, for consideration and vote by the ABA at its midyear meeting. In his submission, he wrote, “We anticipate that some may view any criticism of the Supreme Court as somehow partisan, but we maintain that the need for the Supreme Court to comply with the highest ethical standards is a nonpartisan issue because, as the Supreme Court itself has emphasized, public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the courts is a bedrock principle of the rule of law.”
The resolution was co-sponsored by the King County Bar Association (Seattle).
About the Association
The mission of the New York City Bar Association, which was founded in 1870 and has 23,000 members, is to equip and mobilize a diverse legal profession to practice with excellence, promote reform of the law, and uphold the rule of law and access to justice in support of a fair society and the public interest in our community, our nation, and throughout the world. www.nycbar.org