I wrote Sexual Harassment by Judges, 45 U. Miami L. Rev. 817 (1991). That article documented the serious problem of the most prestigious members of our profession, judges, abusing their positions to sexually harass, among others, court staff, lawyers, and litigants appearing before them. The article related the facts of every reported case and backed up with the findings of numerous state Task Forces on Gender Bias in the Courts. It recommended changes to the ABA Model Rules for both judges and lawyers.
Only now is the Model Code for Judicial Conduct being revised. The draft released last summer was totally inadequate. As a result of my August 8, 2005 memorandum to the Joint Commission, Cannon 2, Rule 2.02: Bias, Prejudice, and Harassment now specifically defines sexual harassment and prohibits harassment on the basis of race, sex, gender, religion, national origin, ethnicity, disability, age, sexual orientation, marital status, or socioeconomic status.
Please support this Proposed Final draft by emailing woodsonb@staff.abanet.org and consider similar wording for your Accreditation Standards.
–Marina Angel
