What is the difference between public comments by a judge and a lawyer on a pending judicial proceeding?

Because judges and attorneys play different roles in the judicial process, their public comments on pending judicial proceedings threaten the fairness of those proceedings in different ways and to different degrees. The public understands that in judicial proceedings lawyers, although also officers of the court, are advocates for the interests of their clients (see, e.g., Gentile v. State Bar of Nevada, supra, 501 U.S. at p. 1051, 111 S.Ct. 2720 [professional mission of criminal defense bar is to challenge actions of the state] ); therefore, the public does not expect a high degree of neutrality or objectivity when lawyers comment on pending cases, nor does the public expect all attorneys to assess the merits of pending cases in the same way. Judges, by contrast, cannot be advocates for the interests of any parties; they must be, and be perceived to be, neutral arbiters of both fact and law (see Preamble, Cal.Code Jud. Ethics) who apply the law uniformly and consistently. Because judges are both "highly visible member[s] of government" (ibid.) and neutral decision makers in all court proceedings, their public comments will be received by the public as more authoritative than those of lawyers. And because judges have this greater influence over public opinion, inappropriate public comment by judges poses a much greater threat to the fairness of judicial proceedings than improper public comment by lawyers.