About a month ago, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued an Order adopting a modified version of ABA Model Rule 8.4(g). The new rule makes it professional misconduct for a lawyer to “by words or conduct, knowingly manifest bias or prejudice, or engage in harassment or discrimination” against anyone.
Pennsylvania had been trying to figure out what to do about this rule since 2016. First it rejected it entirely, opting for a different approach. I wrote about that decision here. But then they changed their minds, I guess, and considered other proposals. One proposal expressed some concerns about the rule's possible violation of the First Amendment, but evidently that concern was abandoned at some point before the recent adoption of the new rule. In fact, it is remarkable that the text of the rule would say "by words" where the most important debate about the Model Rule is whether it regulates speech in violation of the First Amendment.
You can read the new rule here; and for a comment tracing the trajectory of the issue in Pennsylvania and a critique of the adopted rule, go here. The conclusion: "In many regards, the April 2019 proposal is worse than the May 2018 proposal. The earlier version showed some concerns about the First Amendment. The adopted version threw those cautions to this wind. This rule can be used to censor protected speech, and worse, will chill attorneys who seek to engage in protected speech."
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