Ethics/Professional Responsibility
Jun. 17, 2025
Words as weapons: Protecting the bench one word at a time
In response to escalating threats and violence against judges, California has proposed amendments to Rules of Professional Conduct 8.2 and 8.4 to clarify that lawyers may be disciplined for false or threatening statements--even framed as opinions--when such speech endangers judicial independence and public trust in the legal system.
Wendy L. Patrick
Wendy is a California lawyer, past chair and advisor of the California State Bar Ethics Committee (Committee on Professional Responsibility and Conduct), and past chair of the San Diego County Bar Association Legal Ethics Committee. Any opinions expressed here are her own, and do not reflect that of her employer. This article does not constitute legal advice.
In contemporary times, members of the judiciary from local courts to the United States Supreme Court have been increasingly targeted and threatened with violence, illustrating the practice of using words as weapons. In California, proposed amendments to the California Rules of Professional Conduct were designed to address this situation.
The proposed amendments were prompted by a request made by the California Judges Association in November 2024 to the S...
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