The answer is, “yes,” in many, but not all activities. But a judge has to be careful in any kind of extra-judicial activities. The standard is set forth in the New Code of Judicial Conduct, Rule 3.1. That rule is fairly clear that a judge shall “regulate their extra judicial activities to minimize the risk of conflict with their judicial duties and to comply with all the provisions of this Canon.”

In other words, there is a line now drawn which every judge has to respect. The privilege of being a judge requires a judge to give up certain things and also limit their closeness to members of the bar, except for extremely close and old personal friends. But Rule 3.1, in paragraphs A through E, does allow a judge to participate in activities as long as the activities don’t interfere with the judge’s performance of judicial duties. Further, a judge can participate as long as the activities would not require disqualification of the judge. In other words, if a judge was active in some sort of civic group that regularly appeared in court, then the judge should no longer participate with that group because the judge would have to recuse himself under the circumstances. The judge, of course, is prohibited from engaging in activities that would reasonably appear to undermine the judge’s independence, integrity or impartiality. The judge is prohibited from engaging in activities that would appear to be coercive in nature. In other words, a judge might be active in the civic organization, but cannot participate in fundraising in any way, shape or form since a lawyer might feel coerced into participating due to the judge’s position.

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