Does a party’s extended relationship through the judge’s brother’s wife disqualify the judge?

Plain-English summary

The litigant was the wife of the judge’s brother’s wife’s brother. The question was whether that extended relationship fell within the disqualification rule for a party related to the judge or spouse.

The Commission said the Canon reaches the judge’s brother and the brother’s wife but stops there; it does not extend to the brother’s wife’s relatives. It therefore found no disqualification on the stated facts.

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 stated family chain require disqualification?

A: No. The Commission said the disqualification relationship did not extend to the brother’s wife’s relatives.

Q: Which provision did the opinion apply?

A: It applied Canon 3C(l)(d)(i) and cited Section 12-1-12 of the Alabama Code.

Background and rules framework

The opinion quotes Canon 3C(l)(d)(i) on a party within the fourth degree and cites Section 12-1-12, Code of Alabama, 1975, concerning consanguinity or affinity.

Citations and references

Alabama Canons of Judicial Ethics:

• Canon 3C(l)(d)(i)

Statutes:

• Section 12-1-12, Code of Alabama, 1975

See also

• AL Judicial Ethics Op. 84-217: Sister-in-Law at Firm

Source

• Landing page: Alabama JIC advisory opinions
• Original PDF: Advisory Opinion 84-218
• Canon history: Alabama JIC, Canons of Judicial Ethics

Original opinion text

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

84-218
Judicial Inquiry Commission
800 SOUTH MCDONOUGH STREET
SUITE 201
MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA 36104
August 1, 1984
The Judicial Inquiry Commission has considered your request for an opinion concerning whether a judge is disqualified from sitting in a case in which a party to the proceeding is the wife of the judge’s brother’s wife’s brother. Your question is governed by Canon 3C(l)(d)(i) of the Alabama Canons of Judicial Ethics. In pertinent part, that Canon provides that a judge is disqualified from hearing any proceeding in which his disqualification is required by law or in which: “(d) He or his spouse, or a person within the fourth degree of relationship to either of them, or the spouse of such a person: (i) is named a party to the proceeding ...” Relative to this opinion, disqualification is required when the judge is related to a party within the fourth degree by consanguinity or affinity. See §12-1-12, Code of Alabama, 1975. It is the opinion of the Commission that under these provisions disqualification occurs under the present facts only if the party or the party’s spouse is related to the judge or the judge’s spouse by consanguinity within the fourth degree. In the present instance, the pertinent relationship is that between the judge, his brother and his brother’s wife. The brother is related to the judge within the fourth degree, and under the provisions of the Canon, the brother’s wife is the spouse of the person related within the fourth degree. The disqualification stops with this relationship and does not continue to the relatives of the brother’s wife. Therefore, the judge is not disqualified from sitting in the proceeding in question. Very truly yours, JUDICIAL INQUIRY COMMISSION