Connecticut
Committee on Judicial Ethics
Informal Opinion Summaries
2014-10 (July 15, 2014)
Use of Office; Promoting Public Confidence; Fundraising
Rules 1.2, 1.3, 3.1 & 3.7
Issue: May a Judicial Official
lend his or her name to an annual writing competition sponsored by an ethnic bar association?
Additional Facts: The
bar association is seeking to establish a permanent
annual writing competition for college students,
related to the ethnicity’s history and culture.
The winning submission(s) will receive a financial
award. The bar association wants to name the
competition after the inquiring Judicial Official.
The association will attempt to raise funds for the
award through letters of solicitation to potential
donors.
Response: Rule 1.2 of the Code of
Judicial Conduct states that a “judge shall act at
all times in a manner that promotes public
confidence in the independence, integrity, and
impartiality of the judiciary and shall avoid the
appearance of impropriety. The test for appearance
of impropriety is whether the conduct would create
in reasonable minds a perception that the judge
violated this Code or engaged in other conduct that
reflects adversely on the judge’s honesty,
impartiality, temperament, or fitness to serve as a
judge.”
Rule 1.3 states that a judge “shall
not use or attempt to use the prestige of judicial
office to advance the personal or economic interests
of the judge or others or allow others to do so.”
Rule 3.1 states that a judge may engage in
extrajudicial activities, except as prohibited by
law; however, a judge shall not participate in
activities that will interfere with the proper
performance of judicial duties, lead to frequent
disqualification or appear to a reasonable person to
undermine the judge’s independence, integrity or
impartiality.
Rule 3.7 concerns
participation in educational, religious, charitable,
fraternal, or civic organization and activities.
Subject to the requirements in Rule 3.1, a judge is
permitted to participate in various activities
sponsored by or on behalf of such entities.
Subject to the requirements in Rule 3.1, subsection
(a)(4) specifically authorizes judges “appearing or
speaking at, receiving an award or other recognition
at, and permitting his or her title to be used in
connection with an event of such an organization or
entity, but if the event serves a fund-raising
purpose, the judge may participate only if the event
concerns the law, the legal system or the
administration of justice”.
Based upon the
facts presented, as well as this Committee’s and New
York’s prior decisions, the Committee unanimously
determined that the event does not qualify as one
that that concerns “the law, the legal system or the
administration of justice.” The Committee
further determined that the Judicial Official
may permit the use of his or her name with respect
to the writing competition subject to the following
conditions:
1. The Judicial Official does not
participate in fund raising except as permitted in
Rule 3.7(a)(2);
2. In accordance with Rule 1.3, the
Judicial Official inform the bar association that it
cannot use the Judicial Official’s name in
connection with soliciting funding for the
competition. For example, the solicitation
could state it is seeking funding for the annual
writing competition, but it cannot state it is
seeking funding for the annual Judge X writing
competition; and
3. The Judicial Official should
retain the right to review and pre-approve the use
of any information or other material used to solicit
contributions to fund the competition.
In
reaching its opinion, the Committee considered its
prior opinions in
JE 2011-05 (for an activity to qualify as one
that concerns “the law, the legal system or the
administration of justice” it must be shown that
there is “a direct nexus between [the activity] and
how the court system meets its statutory and
constitutional responsibilities – in other words,
how the courts go about their business”),
JE 2009-11 (a Judicial Official, who was to be
the sole guest of honor at a fund raiser by a
nonprofit organization, should not allow the use of
his or her name for purposes of advertising the
event),
JE 2010-30 (a Judicial Official may be honored
at an event hosted by a law related organization for
an event that concerns the law, the legal system or
the administration of justice, and featured in
publicity used to solicit sponsors to underwrite a
portion of the program expenses; however, special
care must be taken to ensure that the Judicial
Official’s name was not used to encourage law firm
participation and that no appearance is created that
any of the donors were in a special position to
influence the Judicial Official),
JE 2010-31 (a Judicial Official may not lend his
or her name to a campaign to solicit existing
members of a law related organization to provide
additional funds to become sustaining members of the
organization),
JE 2010-32 (a Judicial Official may accept an
honorary degree from a college in connection with a
speaking appearance at the college, subject to
various conditions including that the Judicial
Official inform the college that it should not
promote or advertise the awarding of the honorary
degree for the purposes of any fundraising
activities), and New York Advisory Opinion 12-153
(sitting judges may not permit a bar association to
establish law school scholarships in their names
where solicitors would seek contributions for a
special fund in the name of a retired judge and
advise potential contributors that the purpose of
the special fund was to establish law school
scholarships named for the inquiring judges and a
particular attorney).
Committee on Judicial Ethics
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