Amended effective June 24, 1998
CANON 3
A JUDGE SHALL PERFORM THE DUTIES OF JUDICIAL OFFICE IMPARTIALLY AND DILIGENTLY
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B. Adjudicative Responsibilities. Commentary: A judge must perform judicial duties impartially and fairly. A judge who manifests bias on any basis in a proceeding impairs the fairness of the proceeding and brings the judiciary into disrepute. Facial expression and body language, in addition to oral communication, can give to parties or lawyers in the proceeding, jurors, the media and others an appearance of judicial bias. A judge must be alert to avoid behavior that may be perceived as prejudicial. A judge must refrain from speech, gestures or other conduct that could reasonably be perceived as sexual harassment or gender bias and must require the same standard of conduct of others subject to the judge's direction and control. Examples of conduct that may not be sexual harassment but may exhibit bias based on gender include using terms of endearment or inappropriate forms of address or making assumptions based on gender stereotypes. See, e.g., Huesers v. Huesers, 560 N.W.2d 219, 223-224 (N.D. 1997) (Maring, J., concurring). Commentary: A judge must establish, maintain, and enforce high standards of conduct to preserve the integrity of the judiciary and judicial proceedings. A judge has the duty under Section 3B(6) to intervene when inappropriate conduct occurs in proceedings before the judge. See, Johnson v. Johnson, 544 N.W.2d 519, 522 (N.D. 1996); Vitko v. Vitko, 524 N.W.2d 102, 105-106 (N.D. 1994) (Levine, J., concurring). ... ...
(5) A judge shall perform judicial duties without bias or prejudice. A judge shall not, in the performance of judicial duties, by words or conduct manifest bias or prejudice, including but not limited to bias or prejudice based upon race, sex, religion, national origin, disability, age, sexual orientation or socioeconomic status, and shall not permit staff, court officials and others subject to the judge's direction and control to do so.
A judge must perform judicial duties impartially and fairly. A judge who manifests bias on any basis in a proceeding impairs the fairness of the proceeding and brings the judiciary into disrepute. Facial expression and body language, in addition to oral communication, can give to parties or lawyers in the proceeding, jurors, the media and others an appearance of judicial bias. A judge must be alert to avoid behavior that may be perceived as prejudicial. (6) A judge shall require* lawyers in proceedings before the judge to refrain from manifesting, by words or conduct, bias or prejudice based upon race, sex, religion, national origin, disability, age, sexual orientation or socioeconomic status, against parties, witnesses, counsel or others. This Section 3B(6) does not preclude legitimate advocacy when race, sex, religion, national origin, disability, age, sexual orientation or socioeconomic status, or other similar factors, are issues in the proceedings.