JUDGE ON HONORARY COMMITTEE FOR CHARITY

 

Ethics Opinion 251 (1999)

 

QUESTION:  May a Judge serve on the Honorary Committee for an annual Sickle Cell Association Fund Raiser?

 

ANSWER:  Yes, so long as the judge does no actual fund raising.  The answer is governed by Canon 4C (2) which  states that a judge shall not solicit funds for charitable organizations but the judge's name may be listed as an officer, director, delegate or trustee of such an organization.  It appears to this Committee that such activity is allowed so long as the judge does no actual fund raising.  The committee believes that being listed as an Honorary Committee member is analogous to being listed as a speaker or guest of honor.   See  Opinions 237, 249.

 

                                                                                  

MAY JUDGES SERVE ON THE HOST COMMITTEE FOR FUND RAISER FOR THE

GUARDIAN AD LITEM TASK FORCE, INC.?

 

Ethics Opinion 252 (1999)

 

QUESTION: May a judge serve on the Host Committee of a Fund Raiser for the benefit of the Guardian Ad Litem Task Force, Inc., a non-profit corporation that provides training and organization for volunteer ad litems in the Family Courts?  The judges would do no direct fund raising.

 

ANSWER: Yes, a judge may serve on the Host Committee.  This activity is governed by Canon 4.  Canon 4B (2) allows a judge to serve as a member, officer, or director of an organization devoted to the improvement of the law, the legal system or the administration of justice.  A judge may assist such an organization in raising funds, but should not personally participate in public fund raising activities.   Additionally Canon 4C(2) allows a judge to  be a speaker or guest of honor at a charitable fund raiser. In light of both these sections of Canon 4, it is the opinion of the committee that such activity is permissible.

 

 

 

MAY A JUDGE APPEAR ON TELEVISION IN A PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT

FOR A NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION ASKING FOR VOLUNTEERS?

 

Ethics Opinion 253 (1999)

 

QUESTION:  May a judge appear on television in a Public Service Announcement for the Texas non-profit office of "Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic" asking people to volunteer their time as readers?

 

ANSWER:  Yes the judge may make such announcement so long as the prestige of judicial office is not used.  Canon 4 of the Code allows a judge to participate in civic and charitable activities that do not reflect adversely upon the judge's impartiality or interfere with the performance of judicial duties.  It is the belief of the Committee that although the Judge may be identified as a judge it would be improper if he appeared in the announcement wearing his robe.  The committee believes wearing the judicial robe other than while performing official duties or during official ceremonies inappropriately lends the prestige of office to the activity in which the robe is worn.

 

 

JUDGES MAY SUPPORT CREATION OF THE JUDICIAL COMPENSATION COMMISSION

 

Ethics Opinion 254 (1999)

 

QUESTION:  May judges publicly support new legislation creating a Judicial Compensation Commission?  The Commission would set the salaries of Texas Judges.

 

ANSWER:  Yes, judges may publicly support such legislation.  Canon 4 allows judges to speak, write, lecture, teach and participate in extra-judicial activities concerning the law, the legal system and the administration of justice.  For a judge to support such legislation comes within the activity allowed by this section of the Code.

 

 

                 MAY A LAWYER/JUDGE ACCEPT A REFERRAL FEE WHILE IN OFFICE?

 

Ethics Opinion 255 (2000)

 

QUESTION:    Is a judge entitled to accept a referral fee under the following facts:  A judge refers the case of a family member to an attorney who does not regularly appear before the judge.  Neither the family member or the referred attorney reside in the same jurisdiction as the judge. The referred case involves a specialty known as "fen-phen" litigation.  The case has settled and the referred attorney seeks to pay a referral fee to the judge as a "forwarding attorney."  May the judge accept the fee?

 

ANSWER:  No. The Code of Judicial Conduct does not provide a direct answer to the question. Canon 4G does, however, state that: A judge shall not practice law except as permitted by statute or this Code. Notwithstanding this prohibition, a judge may act pro se and may, without compensation, give legal advice to and draft or review documents for a member of the judge's family.

Allowing a judge to receive compensation for referring a family member's case to an attorney would be inconsistent with the spirit of Canon 4G, which would disallow the judge from receiving compensation for actually working on that case.

Additionally, Canon 4D provides:

 

A judge shall refrain from financial and business dealings that tend to reflect adversely on the judge's impartiality, interfere with the proper performance of the judicial duties, exploit his or her judicial position, or involve the judge in frequent transactions with lawyers or persons likely to come before the court on which the judge serves.

 

In Ethics Opinion No.210, this provision was applied to disallow a judge from accepting a referral fee for referring former clients to a realtor. The opinion noted that "[J]udges receiving money for referring business would not be seen as appropriate by the general public. There is a strong potential for the judge's position to be exploited."

That rationale seems to apply to the facts of this case too.

 

 

 

 

VISITING JUDGE AS MEMBER OF NATIONAL

COMMITTEE TO PREVENT WRONGFUL EXECUTIONS

 

Ethics Opinion 256 (2000)

 

Question:  May a visiting judge who is assigned only to the intermediate appellate courts accept an invitation to join the National Committee to Prevent Wrongful Executions?

The committee is part of the Constitution Project housed at Georgetown University Law Center.  It describes itself as a bipartisan "blue ribbon" committee of former elected officials, judges, legal scholars, and journalists, including both supporters and opponents of capital punishment, which seeks to promote "greater fairness in the way the death penalty is administered."  The members of the committee authorize the use of their names in connection with its work.

 

Answer:  Yes.  Canon 4 (B) allows a judge to serve as a member of an organization devoted to the improvement of the law, the legal system, or the administration of justice.  As it describes itself, the National Committee to Prevent Wrongful Executions takes no position on the death penalty but seeks to educate the public and policy makers about ways to prevent "wrongful" executions and the need for certain constitutional protections when the death penalty is administered.

Furthermore, an active or visiting judge on the court of appeals could belong to this Committee without violating the mandate of Canon 5 (1) to make no statement that indicates an opinion on issues that may be subject to that judge's interpretation because intermediate appellate courts in Texas have no jurisdiction to hear death penalty cases.

 

 

MAY A JUDGE'S  STAFF  ACCEPT PAYMENT FOR

INFORMATION REGARDING CASES IN JUDGE'S COURT?

 

                                                              Ethics Opinion 257 (2000)

 

Question:  A commercial web site that publishes data about civil litigation has solicited information from a trial judge regarding cases decided in her court.  The company has offered to pay $7.50 for every jury verdict reported.  The company requests the following data for each case:  date, style, case number, court and name of judge.  They also ask for a case description, identity of plaintiff's attorney and defendant's attorney, plaintiff's experts, defendant's experts, and "the verdict or settlement."  The company suggests that the judge's court reporter be asked to fill out the form.  May the judge or her staff supply information to this commercial data base?  May they receive payment for doing so?

 

Answer:    No to both questions.  Canon 4(D)(1) says that a judge shall refrain from business dealings that exploit her judicial position.  Here the judge would be exploiting her judicial position if she accepts pay for forwarding information regarding official court proceedings to a commercial enterprise.

Canon 2(B) says a judge shall not lend the prestige of judicial office to advance the private interests of the judge or others and shall not convey the impression that others are in a special position to influence the judge.  Even if the judge did not accept payment for funneling "litigation results" to the web site, the judge is using her office to advance the private interests of the commercial web site.  Furthermore, serving as a conduit for information to one commercial web site but not others could foster the impression that one business is in a special position to influence the judge.

Finally, Canon 4(A)(2) directs a judge to conduct extra-judicial activities so that they do not interfere with the proper performance of judicial duties.  By supplying the requested information on each case litigated in her court, or directing her court reporter to do so, the judge or her staff would be taking time away from their official duties to perform these non-judicial tasks for a commercial enterprise.

In reaching this answer we note that this commercial data base has not asserted that it is collecting data in an effort  to improve the law, the legal system, or the administration of justice.

 

 

                      MAY JUDGE SEND LETTER TO BAR ASKING FOR VOLUNTEERS?

 

                                                              Ethics Opinion  258 (2000)

 

Question:  May a Board of Judges send out a letter with the signatures of all the judges to all members of the local bar association asking them to consider volunteering by donating time and services to the Volunteer Lawyer Project's pro bono legal clinic of Legal Services in order to supplement and /or expand the services of that organization?

 

Answer:  Yes, the Board of Judges may send out such a  letter.  The proposed letter identifies the Volunteer Lawyer's Project as a joint undertaking of the Legal Services organization and the local and area bar associations, explaining that the project's aim is to insure the administration of justice to those served by the program.  Canon 4C allows the use of judicial prestige in very limited circumstances for the improvement of the law, the legal system, or the administration of justice.

 

 

MAY A JUDGE SERVE AS A DELEGATE TO A PARTY CONVENTION

OR SERVE ON A STATE PARTY EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE ?

 

Ethics Opinion  259 (2000)

 

Question:  Do the Rules of Judicial Conduct allow judges to serve as delegates to a county, state or national party convention?  Do the Rules of Judicial Conduct allow judges to serve on a state Republican/Democrat Executive Committee?

 

Answer:    No, to both questions.  Canon 4 provides in part as follows:

 

A.  Extra-judicial Activities in General.

A judge shall conduct all of the judges extra-judicial activities so that they do  not:

(1) cast reasonable doubt on the judge's capacity to act impartially as a judge; or

(2)  interfere with the proper performance of judicial duties.

 

B.   Avocational Activities.

A judge may speak, write, lecture, teach and participate in extra-judicial activities concerning the law, the legal system, the administration of justice and non-legal subjects, subject to the requirements of this Code.

 

Canon 5 provides in part:

(1)  A judge or judicial candidate shall not make statements that indicate an opinion on any issue that may be subject to judicial interpretation by the office which is being sought or held, except that the discussion of an individual's judicial philosophy is appropriate if conducted in a manner which does not suggest to a reasonable person a probable decision on any particular case.

 

(2)  A judge or judicial candidate shall not authorize the public use of his or   her name endorsing another candidate for any public office...