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Ethics and Judges
Federal Judges are duty bound to adhere to a system of ethics, generally referred to as the "Code of Conduct for United States Judges," which has been officially sanctioned by the Judicial Conference of the United States. This code of conduct, based on a set of ethical guidelines, has been adopted for the purpose of informing Federal judges about what conduct is expected of them so that they may exercise their judicial duties in a fair and ethical manner. It also advises judges as to their behavior outside of their judicial duties so that not only will they act in an impartial manner when adjudicating cases, but will also maintain the appearance of impartiality as well. This is especially important since many judges engage in extra-judicial activities such as lecturing, writing, teaching, etc., and must maintain their impartiality when adjudicating cases. However, in the past, judges' personal feelings were often the basis for the sentences they handed out, and as a result, many different criminals, all convicted of the same crime, received very different sentences. Because the judiciary must remain impartial and fair, in 1984, the U.S. Congress enacted the "Sentencing Reform Act of 1984," which sought to remove discretionary power from judges and set a sentencing guide model by which judges are required to follow.
It is generally accepted that there are a number of guidelines by which codes of ethics can be judged to be effective or not. These include an established set of standards and procedures which effectively reduce the chance of unethical behavior, a system of oversight, the delegation of authority to responsible people, a system of communicating its...
("Section II") The Federal judiciary has adopted a code of conduct that is based on these principles, however, it was not the Judiciary branch of government that adopted the mandatory sentencing guidelines, it was Congress. This brings up an interesting question about the ethical behavior of Federal judges before the implementation of the 1984 Sentencing Reform Act.
Because Congress was forced to enact a law that regulated the actions of judges, one must ask if the actions of the judges prior to the enactment of the law was ethical. According to the "Code of Conduct for United States Judges," Canon one states that a judge is responsible to "uphold the integrity and independence of the judiciary." ("Code of Conduct for United States Judges") A judge should conform their conduct, both on the bench and off, to maintain that they do not tarnish the position of judge. Otherwise, a judge's rulings will not be seen as being fair and independent, and having possibly been influenced by an outside source. This is particularly important when comparing sentences for the same crime between judges. When different criminals receive different sentences for the same exact crimes, the integrity of judges comes into question and it appears as if the judges may have been influenced in their sentencing decisions.
The second Canon in the code of conduct for judges states that a "Judge should avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety in all activities." ("Code of Conduct for…
References
"Section II: The Federal Sentencing Guidelines Model." Ethics Resource Center.
Retrieved from http://fsgo.ethics.org/Section+II
"Code of Conduct for United States Judges" United States Courts. Retrieved from http://www.uscourts.gov/RulesAndPolicies/CodesOfConduct/CodeConductUnitedStatesJudges.aspx
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