Judicial Ethics Advisory Opinions. March - April 2009

Transcription

1 Judicial Ethics Advisory Opinions March - April 2009 Connecticut Formal Advisory Opinion JE A judge may not serve on the Greater Hartford Legal Aid Board of Directors. Florida Advisory Opinion A retired judge may sit as a senior judge and as a traffic infraction hearing officer in the same judicial circuit. Florida Advisory Opinion A judge may not serve on a local county ethics commission that will establish a code of ethics for the county commission. Florida Advisory Opinion A judge may not receive Organization for Rehabilitation Through Training America s Jurisprudence Award at a fund-raising event for the organization. Kentucky Advisory Opinion JE-117 (2009) A judge may not serve on the board of a public law university. Louisiana Advisory Opinion 213 (2009) An appellate court judge may not serve on the board of directors of a program that supports and promotes court-appointed volunteer advocacy for abused and neglected children. Louisiana Advisory Opinion 214 (2009) A judge may not preside over a criminal matter in which the assistant district attorney is the judge s husband s brother. Louisiana Advisory Opinion 215 (2009) A judge may not sign uncontested motions that do not address the merits of a case or preside over uncontested proceedings involving a law firm in which the judge s brother is a partner. Maryland Advisory Opinion A district court commissioner may join and serve as a volunteer in an independent, volunteer fire department. Massachusetts Advisory Opinion A judge may exhibit, sell, or donate photographs on weekend hours and during approved vacation time where the sales and donations will be modest in volume and value, the judge makes every effort to ensure that his judicial title is not used to confer any benefit or remuneration that a private party would not receive, and the judge is circumspect about

2 donating to charitable organizations or public institutions for fund-raising events if prospective purchasers are likely to be influenced by his status as a judge. Massachusetts Advisory Opinion A judge may recommend a judicial nominee to serve on a commission to study the impact of the OxyContin and heroin epidemic on state and municipal government as required by statute provided the scope of the nominee s participation is sharply and clearly limited to improvement of the law, the legal system, or the administration of justice and that the limitation is clearly disclosed on all documents that list committee members and on all reports and recommendations the committee makes. should have clear boundaries, e.g., a limitation to the efficacy of various approaches to alternate dispositions and sentence structures on those accused or convicted of offenses related to heroin or OxyContin and the impact those dispositions, sentence structures and associated prosecutions may have on judicial resources and case-flow management. Minnesota Advisory Opinion (2008) Except when assigned as a part of regular judicial duties and expressly permitted by law, a judge may not perform any type of dispute resolution services, including mediation and arbitration. A judge may not use official judicial stationery for a recommendation letter containing information not obtained in the ordinary course of judicial or official court activities such as personal data. A judge may not address a letter of recommendation in a way that facilitates its use by recipients that are unintended or unknown at the time of writing such as a to whom it may concern letter. Based on personal knowledge of his legal abilities, a judge may submit a recommendation letter on behalf of a public defender for employment as a prosecutor. Nevada Advisory Opinion JE09-2 A judge may not serve on the board of directors of a non-profit organization that provides support services to victims of domestic violence including a court advocacy program, assisting victims with applications for temporary protection orders, and stalking orders before the justice courts. Nevada Advisory Opinion JE09-3 A judge is not required to decline and to urge a family member residing in the judge s household to decline the monetary benefits from a public event held to raise funds to assist the judge and his family member meet the financial obligations for medical treatment for the family member s catastrophic illness. Nevada Advisory Opinion JE09-4 In collaboration with a judge who has been convicted of battery/domestic violence, a chief judge may adopt and implement a case management procedure that uses a remittal of disqualification process in domestic violence cases for that judge. New York Advisory Opinion The window period of a judge who submitted her name to a party screening panel but did not receive the party s endorsement or nomination, and ultimately did not appear on the 2

3 ballot for the primary election ends 6 months from the last date on which the candidate could have filed an independent nominating petition. New York Advisory Opinion A judge whose former law clerk is now employed as an assistant attorney general, with a discrete unit that litigates a particular type of case, is not disqualified from all cases where the attorney general appears and need not disclose the relationship, but the judge is disqualified from cases where the former law clerk appears for 1 year after her employment with the court ends; cases that were pending at the time the former law clerk was employed by the court where the unit that now employs the judge s former law clerk is involved; and cases where the unit is involved that were commenced during the first year after the judge s former law clerk left the court s employ if the former law clerk has had any involvement in the case. New York Advisory Opinion A judge may not donate unexpended campaign funds to any charity or use the funds for victory parties or to attend political events after the judge s window period expires but may use campaign funds remaining after a bona fide effort to return funds pro rata to all contributors to purchase modestly priced items that the court system or municipality does not otherwise provide for the judge to use in the performance of her judicial duties. New York Advisory Opinion A judge may serve on the executive committee of a county Inn of Court and may solicit other judges to join the organization, but may not solicit attorneys to join. New York Advisory Opinion A judge who receives a subpoena to testify as a character witness is not required to notify any administrative authority about the subpoena. New York Advisory Opinion A part-time lawyer/town justice may represent a client on a felony charge that originated in another town court, located in the same county, in which both presiding justices are non-lawyers. New York Advisory Opinion A judge who formerly had a business/professional relationship and currently has a social relationship with an attorney who is an assistant district attorney should disclose the relationship when the attorney appears in the judge s court to allow the parties and their attorneys to consider whether to ask the judge to exercise recusal. Upon a request for recusal, the judge must exercise her discretion in determining whether her impartiality might reasonably questioned thus warranting recusal. New York Advisory Opinion A former judge who retired from the bench more than 1 year ago and who serves as a judicial hearing officer may appoint an attorney who was her law clerk to serve as a law 3

4 guardian for children assuming the former law clerk is otherwise eligible for such appointment. New York Advisory Opinion Provided that the judge otherwise complies with the rules governing judicial conduct, he may join and use an Internet-based social network but should exercise an appropriate degree of discretion in how he uses the social network and should stay abreast of the features of any such service he uses as new developments may impact his/her duties under the rules. New York Advisory Opinion A judge s sibling may be appointed an arbitrator or small claims assessment review officer if the sibling is otherwise eligible and is appointed pursuant to the applicable provisions of law, and the inquiring judge is not involved in any way in the appointment process. New York Advisory Opinion A judge whose sibling is an Assistant New York State Attorney General is not disqualified from any case involving the New York State Attorney General s Office except those in which his sibling appears or is involved. New York Advisory Opinion In the absence of any law, rule, or administrative policy prohibiting a town or village justice from doing so, a town justice may permit the elected town clerk to receive fine payments during the day when the court is closed and perform other tasks associated with her judicial duties such as sending out fine notices and addressing envelopes while at home. New York Advisory Opinion A part-time judge may serve on a county government-sponsored committee to explore the issue of an assigned counsel system, public defender system, or hybrid system to represent indigent defendants in the county. New York Joint Advisory Opinion / A town or village justice may permit a court bailiff or town court security officer to work also as a county probation officer, but may not permit the court clerk to also work as a county probation officer. New York Joint Advisory Opinion / A judge may hear matters involving his part-time co-judge s client if the client is selfrepresented or represented by retained or assigned counsel not associated with the cojudge s private law practice. A part-time judge who is temporarily assigned to another court and his partners or associates cannot appear in the court on pending or future cases while the temporary assignment order is in effect. 4

5 New York Advisory Opinion 09-5 A judge may appear on a radio program in which the participants will discuss the Rotary Club s humanitarian and public service projects where the judge will not be identified as a judge and no donations will be requested. New York Advisory Opinion A judge may act pro se to assert her personal rights as an individual unit owner in an action against the condominium board, but may not lead or advise the other owners in making litigation decisions or give advice to legal counsel hired to represent the group of owners. New York Advisory Opinion A judge may not serve on a non-profit community action agency and rural preservation company. New York Advisory Opinion A judge may not provide a copy of the court calendar in advance to the district attorney s office with notations summarizing the driving record for each defendant scheduled to appear unless the judge also shares the information with the defense. New York Advisory Opinion A judge may serve as a mentor of a child, who has no family court history, in the public school system. New York Advisory Opinion A judge may not, outside his window period, attend a social event sponsored by an elected non-judicial official and paid for by that official s campaign fund. New York Advisory Opinion A judge may comment publicly on the vote of the village board to dissolve the village court subject to a permissive referendum pursuant to local law. New York Advisory Opinion A judge may act as a judge in a moot court/mock trial demonstration at the anniversary conference of a not-for-profit insurance trade association provided the presentation is not used as a means to promote a particular point of view, to support a particular side, or to teach strategy. New York Advisory Opinion A judge may attend a judicial reception of a local bar association as a complimentary guest even though others attending must pay and the event is underwritten by one or more entities. New York Advisory Opinion A court clerk for several town justice courts and a village justice court may also serve as the acting village justice for a court where she does not serve as a court clerk, but may 5

6 not preside in any matters, including arraignments, for courts where she serves as a court clerk. New York Advisory Opinion A judge is not disqualified from a non-jury, civil case after receiving an inquiry from another judge about a relative s trial testimony in the case where the ex parte communication did not involve any discussion of the subject of the case or the content of the witness s testimony, but the judge should disclose the communication. New York Advisory Opinion A judge may not serve as a director of a not-for-profit agency that provides services to persons referred by the court in which the judge presides. New York Advisory Opinion A judge may participate in a video production to be screened for students at the local high school to discourage them from driving while intoxicated, using illegal drugs, and smoking. North Carolina Advisory Opinion A new judge may not maintain the position of manager of the professional limited liability company through which he practiced law. Oklahoma Advisory Opinion A judge may be employed by his brother, who is an independent petroleum land man, to check records unless he would be rendering an opinion as to the ownership of those interests. Pennsylvania Informal Advisory Opinion 3/27/08 A judge may not serve on the board of directors of a non-profit health insurance company because the civil docket for the county shows that in the past 5 years the company has been a party to 20 lawsuits. Pennsylvania Informal Advisory Opinion 5/23a/08 A judge may not attend the Democratic party presidential convention as an observer. Pennsylvania Informal Advisory Opinion 5/23b/08 A judge may swear in animal control officers and permit the filming of the ceremony for broadcast on television. Pennsylvania Informal Advisory Opinion 6/10/08 A judge may not be the honoree at a fund-raising event for a non-profit organization that provides training for homeownership, access to homeowner counseling resources, and advocacy for policies that increase homeownership opportunities. 6

7 South Carolina Advisory Opinion A probate judge or associate probate judge may not act as a judge at a talent show or master of ceremonies in a fund-raising event but may donate items for prizes at a raffle or auction. South Carolina Advisory Opinion A part-time judge may participate as a dancer in a charitable fund-raiser and ask for donations from other judges over whom the judge has no authority. South Carolina Advisory Opinion A part-time magistrate may be a member or director of a non-profit organization that does not practice any discriminatory conduct or regularly appear before the judge if the judge does not personally take part in any fund-raising activity. 7