May a district judges council endorse a seat-belt and child-restraint enforcement campaign whose cases its judges will hear?

Short answer The Committee said endorsement of this or any law-enforcement program by the council or an individual judge would violate the Code. It also said council members would have to recuse from charges under the described program if the council endorsed it.

Bar

JUDICIAL-AR

Issued

May 23, 2002

Apply this to your situation

This page answers the general question as of 2002. Ask about yours and see what the current rules of professional conduct in your state say for your facts, with citations.

Disclaimer: Advisory only. Not binding precedent.

About this page: The plain-English summary, reader guidance, and Q&A below were written by Ezel based on the official ethics opinion. The original opinion (linked on this page) is the authoritative source for any reliance.

Plain-English summary

The president of the Arkansas District Judges Council asked whether the council could endorse a statewide seat-belt and child-passenger enforcement campaign. The council’s judges would adjudicate most charges produced by that effort.

The Committee said endorsement of this or any law-enforcement program by the council or an individual judge would violate the then-current Code. It also said the council's members would have to recuse from charges under the described program if the council endorsed it, because that would create an appearance of bias or prejudice.

Common questions

Q: Did the program’s safety purpose change the Committee’s answer?

A: No. The Committee said its conclusion applied despite the program being worthy of support.

Q: What consequence did the Committee identify for member judges hearing program cases?

A: It said an endorsement would create an appearance of bias or prejudice requiring recusal.

Background and rules framework

The Committee cited Arkansas Code of Judicial Conduct Canons 1, 2, 3 and 4 in concluding that the council or an individual judge could not endorse this or any other law-enforcement program.

Citations and references

Arkansas Code of Judicial Conduct Canons 1, 2, 3 and 4.

Source

Landing page: https://jddc.arkansas.gov/opinions/opinion-no-02-05/

Original opinion text

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

May 23, 2002

The Honorable Dennis L. James, President

Arkansas District Judges Council, Inc.

519 E. Capitol, Suite 2-West

Little Rock, Arkansas 72202

Re: Advisory Opinion No. 2002-05

Dear Judge James:

You have asked if the Arkansas District Judges Council, Inc. should endorse a law enforcement program of the Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department called

"CLICK IT or TICKET which is described as "a high-visibility statewide enforcement effort designed to detect violators of Arkansas' primary child passenger protection law and secondary seat belt law." You state that this program is a "very admirable one, in that it promotes safety and education of the public."

Members of your Council will be acting as judges of most all the charges brought under this program, and if the Council endorsed it, the member judges would certainly have to recuse since there would the appearance of bias or prejudice. Our answer is that an endorsement of this or any other law enforcement program, however worthy of support, by the Arkansas District Judges Council, Inc. or any individual judge would be in violation of the Arkansas Code of Judicial Conduct, Canons 1, 2 , 3 and 4.

Very truly yours,

Edwin Alderson

for the Committee

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