Rule 21-313 NMRA
Rule 21-313. Acceptance of gifts, loans, bequests, benefits, or other things of value.
A. A judge shall not accept any gifts, loans, bequests, benefits, or other things of
value, if acceptance is prohibited by law or would appear to a reasonable person to
undermine the judge’s independence, integrity, or impartiality, or if the source is a party
or other person, including a lawyer, who has come or is likely to come before the judge,
or whose interests have come or are likely to come before the judge.
B. Unless otherwise prohibited by law, or by Paragraph A, a judge may accept the
following:
(1)
items with little intrinsic value, such as plaques, certificates, trophies, and
greeting cards;
(2)
gifts, loans, bequests, benefits, or other things of value from friends,
relatives, or other persons, including lawyers, whose appearance or interest in a
proceeding pending or impending before the judge would in any event require
disqualification of the judge under Rule 21-211 NMRA;
(3)
ordinary social hospitality;
(4)
commercial or financial opportunities and benefits, including special
pricing and discounts, and loans from lending institutions in their regular course of
business, if the same opportunities and benefits or loans are made available on the
same terms to similarly situated persons who are not judges;
(5)
rewards and prizes given to competitors or participants in random
drawings, contests, or other events that are open to persons who are not judges;
(6)
scholarships, fellowships, and similar benefits or awards, if they are
available to similarly situated persons who are not judges, based upon the same terms
and criteria;
(7)
books, magazines, journals, audiovisual materials, and other resource
materials supplied by publishers on a complimentary basis for official use;
(8)
gifts, awards, or benefits associated with the business, profession, or
other separate activity of a spouse, a domestic partner, or other family member of a
judge residing in the judge’s household, but that incidentally benefit the judge;
(9)
gifts incident to a public testimonial; or
(10)
invitations to the judge and the judge’s spouse, domestic partner, or guest
to attend without charge:
(a) an event associated with a bar-related function or other activity relating to
the law, the legal system, or the administration of justice; or
(b) an event associated with any of the judge’s educational, religious,
charitable, fraternal, or civic activities permitted by this Code, if the same invitation is
offered to non-judges who are engaged in similar ways in the activity as is the judge.