Must a judge disqualify from a bank case when minor children in the judge’s household own bank shares?

Plain-English summary

The judge owed money to a local bank, and two minor daughters owned stock in it. The Commission assumed one or both daughters lived in the judge’s household.

The Commission said the children’s ownership of bank shares required disqualification from proceedings involving the bank. It relied on Canon 3C’s definition of financial interest as including even a small ownership interest and declined to decide whether the judge’s own indebtedness independently required recusal.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 1984, after the Alabama Supreme Court’s 1975 adoption of the Alabama Canons of Judicial Ethics. Subsequent amendments or later opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context and verify the current Canons and linked opinion before relying on its conclusions.

Common questions

Q: Did the amount of stock matter?

A: The Commission said the financial-interest definition included ownership however small.

Q: Did the Commission decide whether the judge’s bank debt independently disqualified the judge?

A: No. It expressly left that question unanswered because the children’s stock already required disqualification.

Background and rules framework

The opinion applies Canon 3C(l)(c) on a minor household child’s financial interest and Canon 3C(3)(c) defining that interest.

Citations and references

Alabama Canons of Judicial Ethics:

• Canon 3C(l)(c)
• Canon 3C(3)(c)

See also

• AL Judicial Ethics Op. 84-210: Newspaper Stockholder

Source

• Landing page: Alabama JIC advisory opinions
• Original PDF: Advisory Opinion 84-205
• Canon history: Alabama JIC, Canons of Judicial Ethics

Original opinion text

Reproduced from the official source for research purposes. The linked source is authoritative.

84-205
Judicial Inquiry Commission
800 SOUTH MCDONOUGH STREET
SUITE 201
MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA 36104
April 2, 1984
The Judicial Inquiry Commission has considered your request for an advisory opinion concerning whether a judge is required to disqualify himself from cases involving a local bank to which he is personally indebted and in which his two minor daughters own stock. The Commission assumes that one or both of the minor daughters reside in the judge’s household. It is the opinion of the Commission that your disqualification is required in the circumstances you describe. Canon 3C(l)(c) mandates disqualification from any proceeding in which a minor child residing in the judge’s household has a financial interest in the subject matter in controversy. Under Canon 3C(3)(c) “a financial interest” is defined to include ownership of a legal or equitable interest, however small, in a party. Therefore, ownership by minor children residing in the judge’s household of stock in a bank disqualifies the judge from any proceeding involving the bank. Since disqualification is required because of the stock ownership of your minor children, the Commission does not address the question of whether disqualification would be required by the fact that you are indebted to the bank. Very truly yours, JUDICIAL INQUIRY COMMISSION