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BJI News
Judicial Threats and Advisory Opinion 118
March 25, 2026
Judges are detailing threats received by themselves and other judges in light of Advisory Opinion 118, from the Committee on Codes of Conduct of the Judicial Conference of the United States.. Says Judge Jeremy Fogel (ret.) in New York Times’ recent article, “Trump Calls for Law Cracking Down on Crime and ‘Rogue Judges’”:
“I don’t think there’s going to be some drastic … sea change in the way judges talk about what they do,” he said. “But It does recognize that there’s … there’s something going on now that has not gone on, at least not to this degree and with this prominence, before.”
Read the full article here.
Judges in the Community
Watch as BJI goes one-on-one with judges across the nation committed to making positive change in their community, and listen as they share the programs and initiatives close to their heart, striving to forge a new, interconnected future for the judicial world.
Educating the Community about the Judiciary - Judge Jeremy Fogel
Judge Jeremy Fogel (U.S. District Judge, Northern District of CA, ret.) shares how he reaches out to the community to educate those outside of the judiciary, whether high school students, jurors, retirement home residents, or the general public, about the Constitution, the work of a judge, and more. He emphasizes that civic education requires more than just teaching about the three branches of government; it requires listening to what people believe and know, and meeting them where they are. Judge Fogel says judges need to be good explainers and good listeners, both of which are very teachable skills. His tip for those interested in educating the public about the judiciary is to ask, “Tell me more about what you’ve heard?”
The following are slides Judge Fogel uses in teaching high school students: Rule of Law