Alaska Code Jud. Conduct Terminology

Terms defined below are marked with an asterisk in the

Sections where they appear. In addition, each definition

cross-references the Sections where the defined term

appears.

“Appropriate disciplinary authority” means the governmental or quasi-governmental agency whose responsibility for initiation of the disciplinary process covers

the violation to be reported. See Sections 3D(1), 3D(2), and

3D(3).

“Bias or prejudice” does not include references to or

distinctions based upon race, color, sex, religion, national

origin, disability, age, marital status, changes in marital status,

pregnancy, parenthood, sexual orientation, or social or

economic status when these factors are legitimately relevant to

the advocacy or decision of the proceeding, or, with regard to

administrative matters, when these factors are legitimately

relevant to the policies or decisions involved. See Sections

3B(5), 3B(6), 3C(1), and 3C(2).

Commentary.—The definition of “bias or prejudice” was

written in an exclusionary manner to allow courts to

countenance legitimate distinctions relevant to litigation

before them. See Section 3B(6).

The definition implies the obvious— that a court demonstrates

impermissible bias or prejudice if it uses constitutionally or

statutorily protected categories as a basis for unfairly

discriminating. Bias or prejudice may also arise from other

than legally impermissible categorization and still be

something a court should recognize and avoid.

As the symbols and bastions of justice in our society it is

important for courts to provide their services to all on

essentially the same basis.

“Candidate” means a person seeking any public office. A

person becomes a candidate as soon as he or she makes a

public announcement of candidacy, or declares or files as a

candidate with the election or appointment authority, or

authorizes solicitation or acceptance of contributions or public

support. See Preamble and Sections 5A(1), 5A(2), 5B(1),

5B(2), 5B(2)(b), 5C(1), 5C(2), 5C(3), and 5C(4).

“Candidate for judicial office” means a candidate seeking

selection for or retention in judicial office, whether by election

or appointment. This term is used interchangeably with

“judicial candidate.” See Sections 5A(1)(b), 5A(3), and 5E.

“De minimis interest” means an insignificant interest that

would not lead reasonable persons to question a judge’s

impartiality. See Sections 3E(1)(c) and 3E(1)(d).

“Economic interest” means ownership of a more than de

minimis legal or equitable interest or a relationship as an

officer, director, advisor, or other legal participant in the affairs

of a party, except that:

(i) ownership of an interest in a mutual or common

investment fund that holds securities is not an economic

interest in such securities unless the judge participates in the

management of the fund or a proceeding pending or impending

before the judge could substantially affect the value of the

interest;

(ii) service by a judge as an officer, director, advisor, or

other active participant in an educational, religious, charitable,

fraternal, or civic organization, or service by a judge’s spouse,

parent, or child as an officer, director, advisor, or other active

participant in any organization does not create an economic

interest in securities held by that organization;

(iii) a deposit in a financial institution, the proprietary

interest of a policy holder in a mutual insurance company, of a

depositor in a mutual savings association or of a member in a

credit union, or a similar proprietary interest, is not an

economic interest in the organization unless a proceeding

pending or impending before the judge could substantially

affect the value of the interest;

(iv) ownership of government securities is not an

economic interest in the issuer unless a proceeding pending or

impending before the judge could substantially affect the value

of the securities.

See Sections 3E(1)(c) and 3E(2).

“Fiduciary” means a person who has undertaken a duty to

conduct financial or other affairs for another person’s benefit.

The term includes any person acting as executor, administrator,

personal representative, trustee, guardian, or attorney in fact

for another. It also includes any other person who, because of

his or her relationship to another person, is obliged to give

paramount consideration to the benefit of that other person and

to abide by duties of care, good faith, and candor in the

conduct of matters falling within the scope of the relationship,

even when doing so conflicts with the self-interest of the

fiduciary. See Sections 3D(2), 3E(1)(c), 3E(2), 4E(1), 4E(2),

and 4E(3).

“Governmental office” means the four types of office a

judge may seek without resigning:

(i) retention in the judge’s current judicial office;

(ii) selection to a different judicial office;

(iii) selection as a delegate to a constitutional convention;

or

(iv) selection to an appointive non-judicial public office.

See Sections 5B(1) and 5B(2).

Commentary.—Canon 5 speaks of judges who are candidates

for government office—both appointive government office

(Section 5B) and elective government office (Section 5C(4)).

However, Section 5A(2) requires judges to resign upon

becoming a candidate for elective non-judicial office. Thus, the

phrase “governmental office” is necessarily limited to the four

types of office a judge may seek without resigning.

“Judicial duties” means all the duties of a judge in

connection with judicial proceedings and acts of the judge in

discharge of disciplinary responsibilities required or permitted

by Section 3D. See Sections 3A, 3B(5), 3B(11), 3D(4), 4A(3),

4D(5)(b), 4E(1), and 4H(2).

“Knowingly,” “knowledge,” “known,” and “knows” mean

that a person is aware of the existence of the fact or

circumstance in question, or is aware of the substantial

probability of its existence. However, a person does not

“know” or have “knowledge” or act “knowingly” if the person

actually believes, despite any indications to the contrary, that

the fact or circumstance does not exist. See Sections 2B, 2C,

3D(1), 3E(1)(a), 3E(1)(c), 3E(1)(d), 5A(l)(b), and 5A(3)(d).

“Law” means court rules as well as statutes, constitutional

provisions, and decisional law. See Sections 2A, 3A, 3B(2),

3B(7), 3B(7)(a), 3C(2), 4B, 4C(1), 4C(2), 4C(3), 4C(3)(b),

4D(5)(a), 4F, 4I, 5B(2)(b), and 5D.

“Member of the judge’s family” means a spouse, child,

grandchild, parent, grandparent, or other relative or person

with whom the judge maintains a close familial relationship.

See Sections 2B, 3E(1)(c), 4E(1), and 4G.

“Nonpublic information” means information that, by law,

is not available to the public. Nonpublic information may

include but is not limited to: information that is sealed by statute or court order, information impounded or communicated in camera, and information offered in grand

jury proceedings, presentencing reports, dependency cases, or

psychiatric reports. See Section 3B(11).

“Political activity” means:

(i) becoming a candidate for elective public office;

(ii) serving as an officer of a political party, a member of

a national, state, or local committee of a political party, an

officer or member of a committee of any other political

organization, or becoming a candidate for any of these

positions;

(iii) serving as a delegate, alternate, or proxy to a political

party convention;

(iv) addressing a convention, caucus, rally, or similar

gathering of a political party in support of or in opposition to a

candidate for public office or political party office;

(v) organizing or re-organizing a political party or

organization;

(vi) taking part in a political campaign to elect someone

to public office or political party office, to recall someone from

such an office, or to enact or defeat a ballot proposition;

(vii) taking any other part in the management of a political

party or organization, or a political candidate, or a group for or

against a ballot proposition;

(viii) soliciting votes in support of or in opposition to a

candidate’s election to public office or political party office, or

in support of or in opposition to an incumbent’s recall from

such an office, or in support of or in opposition to a ballot

proposition;

(ix) publicly endorsing or opposing a candidate for public

office or political party office, or publicly endorsing or

opposing a ballot proposition, whether in a speech, a published

letter, a political advertisement or broadcast, campaign

literature, or any similar material;

(x) initiating or circulating a nominating petition, recall

petition, or petition to put a ballot proposition before the

voters.

(xi) directly or indirectly soliciting, receiving, collecting, handling, disbursing, or accounting for assessments, contributions, or other funds for a political purpose;

(xii) organizing, selling tickets to, promoting, or actively

participating in a fund-raising activity of a candidate, political

party, or political organization; or

(xiii) acting as a recorder, watcher, challenger, or similar

officer at the polls on behalf of a political party or a candidate,

or driving voters to the polls on behalf of a political party or a

candidate, or doing any other act as an official or unofficial

representative of a political party or candidate;

(xiv) but “political activity” does not include:

(a) being a member of a political party;

(b) registering and voting;

(c) expressing one’s opinion in private on political

subjects and candidates;

(d) participating in the non-partisan activities of a civic,

community, social, labor, or professional organization; or

(e) speaking or writing in support of or in opposition to

proposals to change the legal system or the administration of

justice.

See Sections 5B(2), 5C(4), and 5D.

“Political organization” means a party, committee,

association, club, foundation, fund, or any other organization,

whether incorporated or not, whose primary purpose is to:

(i) influence the selection, nomination, election or

appointment of any individual to public office or to office in a

political party, or

(ii) influence the outcome of any recall effort or ballot

proposition, or

(iii) further or defeat proposals to change the law in

matters other than the improvement of the law, the legal

system, or the administration of justice.

See Sections 5A(1)(a), 5A(1)(c), 5A(1)(e), and 5B(2)(b).

The words “shall” and “shall not” mean a binding

obligation on judicial officers, and a judge’s failure to comply

with this obligation is a ground for disciplinary action.

The words “should” and “should not” mean conduct or a

course of action to which judicial officers should aspire, but a

judge’s failure to meet such an aspirational goal is not a

ground for disciplinary action.

“Spouse” includes not only a husband or wife but also any

person with whom the judge maintains a shared household and

conjugal relations. See Sections 3E(1)(c), 3E(l)(d), 3E(2),

4D(5)(a), 4D(5)(b), 4H(1)(b), 4H(3), and 5A(3)(a).

Commentary.—Because the same potential conflicts of

interest and loyalty arise when a judge maintains a shared

household and conjugal relations with another person to whom

the judge is not married, the provisions of Canons 3 and 4

should apply more broadly than simply to legally recognized

spouses. Rather than try to reword each affected provision,

this Code retains the ABA’s use of “spouse” but includes an

expanded definition of spouse in the Terminology Section.

“Third degree of relationship.” The following persons are

relatives within the third degree of relationship: great-

grandparent, grandparent, parent, uncle, aunt, brother, sister,

child, grandchild, great-grandchild, nephew, and niece. See

Section 3E(1)(d).