Judges need to brush up on their ethics after the ABA released its final draft of its revisions to the Model Code of Judicial Conduct on Dec. 21. The commission in charge of the code is accepting public commentary on the revisions until March 15.

“The commission drew on the experience and expertise of lawyers, judges, academics and members of the public in striving for the right balance,” said Mark Harrison, chair of the ABA Joint Commission on Evaluation of the Model Code of Judicial Conduct. “Now we hope to hear from all quarters about whether we have succeeded.”

New provisions include suggestions to jurisdictions to place dollar limits on gifts that judges may accept, limits on reimbursing judges for travel expenses and suggested restrictions on judges' political activities.