A sampling of recent judicial ethics advisory opinions

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  • A judge may be part of a court team that applies for grants for a behavioral health court.  Kansas Opinion JE-187 (2023).
  • A judge is not automatically disqualified from a case because one of the attorneys is a member of the board of supervisors that votes on the budgets for local courts.  Virginia Opinion 2023-1.
  • When a judge finds that an attorney’s failure to comply with a discovery order was based on misguided advice from the attorney’s supervisor and was not willful or in bad faith, the judge is not required to report the attorney to the State Bar, and the judge’s decision to declare a mistrial constitutes appropriate corrective action.  California Supreme Court Committee Formal Opinion 2024-25.
  • A judge is not required to report their own ethics violation to the State Commission on Judicial Conduct.  New York Opinion 2023-137.
  • A judge may not write a letter on behalf of a family member to a sentencing judge even if the sentencing judge is in a different judicial district, the letter would not be on judicial letterhead, and the judge would not include their job title.  Kansas Opinion JE-188 (2024).
  • A judge may not initiate a drive within a courtroom or courthouse to collect toys or dental hygiene products on behalf of non-profit, charitable organizations and may not partner with bar associations to initiate such drives.  New York Opinion 2023-136.
  • A judge may not promote local businesses and/or businesses operated by their friends, family, and classmates on social media.  A judge may not send out solicitation letters for a non-profit charitable organization; post announcements about the organization’s fund-raising activities or initiatives on social media; post a link to a page that solicits donations; sell raffle tickets; collect tickets at a fund-raising event; solicit, collect, or accept money for a “bounce house” rental or fund-raising dinner; or solicit bottles and cans to be converted to cash at a redemption center or collect cash for them at the center.  New York Opinion 2023-140.
  • A judge may attend an event hosted by a non-partisan business organization featuring a speech by the attorney general and accept a ticket to the event from a non-lawyer who will not appear before the judge.  Florida Opinion 2024-1.
  • A judge may not be the keynote speaker for a non-fund-raising event sponsored by a law center that is “dedicated to protecting the State of Israel.”  New York Opinion 2023-155.
  • To represent the judiciary’s interests, the chief judicial officer of the court system may speak at a legislative conference sponsored by a not-for-profit entity at a session about the judiciary’s operational needs and/or experience with developing technologies but may not otherwise attend or participate in the conference.  New York Opinion 2023-200.
  • A judge may participate in an elimination dinner that is a fund-raiser for a non-profit organization as long the organization does not regularly appear before them or any court and may allow their name to be placed on the handout, but not their title.  West Virginia Opinion 2024-1.
  • A judge may not serve as a paid coach for public middle school and high school sports teams.  A judge may serve as a paid referee for sports/summer activities.  West Virginia Opinion 2024-4.
  • A new magistrate may not continue to work for a realty company as a realtor.  A new magistrate may remain a co-owner of an LLC that owns rental properties.  West Virginia Opinion 2024-2.
  • A judge whose child is a student at a local public high school may not stand for election to or serve on the school board but may attend and participate in school board meetings as a parent.  New York Opinion 2023-159.
  • A judge may attend events for their child’s political campaign, including fundraising events, and appear in campaign ads and other materials, provided their title is not used or referenced and they appear only as a supportive parent.  South Carolina Opinion 1-2024.
  • A judge should strongly discourage their spouse from hosting a fundraiser for a judicial candidate at their residence.  Washington Opinion 2023-5.
  • A judicial candidate may not answer a political party’s questionnaire about controversial issues when the questionnaire says that it is not asking for the candidate’s personal opinions and does not give the candidate an opportunity to expound on their answers.  West Virginia Opinion 2024-3.
  • A prosecutor who is a candidate for circuit judge may not post about the outcome of criminal cases on their prosecutor website even if what is written is limited to the facts of the case but may post a sentencing order without further comment.  West Virginia Opinion 2024-5.
  • A judicial candidate may represent county and state political parties in lawsuits but must be careful not to use the representation to skirt the code of judicial conduct and should preface any statements, comments and media responses with the representation that they are speaking only as counsel for the parties.  West Virginia Opinion 2024-6.

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