Affiliation with Discriminatory Organizations

(A) A judge should not hold membership in any organization that practices invidious discrimination on the basis of race, sex, gender, religion, national origin, ethnicity or sexual orientation. Comment: Membership of a judge in an organization that practices invidious discrimination gives rise to perceptions that the judge's impartiality is impaired. Rule 3.6 refers to the current practices of the organization. Whether an organization practices invidious discrimination is often a complex question to which a judge should be sensitive. The answer cannot be determined from a mere examination of an organization's current membership rolls but rather depends on how the organization selects members and other relevant factors, such as that the organization is dedicated to the preservation of religious, ethnic or cultural values of legitimate common interest to its members, or that it is in fact and effect an intimate, purely private organization whose membership limitations could not be constitutionally prohibited. Other relevant factors include the size and nature of the organization and the diversity of persons in the locale who might reasonably be considered potential members. Thus the mere absence of diverse membership does not by itself demonstrate a violation unless reasonable persons with knowledge of all the relevant circumstances would expect that the membership would be diverse in the absence of invidious discrimination. Absent such factors, an organization is generally said to discriminate invidiously if it arbitrarily excludes from membership on the basis of race, sex, gender, religion, national origin, ethnicity or sexual orientation persons who would otherwise be admitted to membership. 16 Although Rule 3.6 relates only to membership in organizations that invidiously discriminate on the basis of race, sex, gender, religion, national origin, ethnicity or sexual orientation, a judge's membership in an organization that engages in any invidiously discriminatory membership practices prohibited by applicable law violates Rules 1.1 and 1.2 and gives the appearance of impropriety. In addition, it would be a violation of Rules 1.1 and 1.2 for a judge to arrange a meeting at a club that the judge knows practices invidious discrimination on the basis of race, sex, gender, religion, national origin, ethnicity or sexual orientation in its membership or other policies, or for the judge to use such a club regularly. Moreover, public manifestation by a judge of the judge's knowing approval of invidious discrimination on any basis gives the appearance of impropriety under Canon 1 and diminishes public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary, in violation of Rule 1.2. When a judge determines that an organization to which the judge belongs engages in invidious discrimination that would preclude membership under Rule 3.6(A) or under Rules 1.1 and 1.2, the judge is permitted, in lieu of resigning, to make immediate and continuous efforts to have the organization discontinue its invidiously discriminatory practices. If the organization fails to discontinue its invidiously discriminatory practices as promptly as possible (and in all events within two years of the judge's first learning of the practices), the judge should resign immediately from the organization. (B) A judge should not use the benefits or facilities of an organization if the judge knows or should know that the organization practices invidious discrimination on one or more bases identified in paragraph (A). A judge’s attendance at an event in a facility of an organization that the judge is not permitted to join is not a violation of the Rule when the judge’s attendance is an isolated event that could not reasonably be perceived as an endorsement of the organization’s practices