Could a retired circuit judge who still heard assigned cases put a robed photograph on his book jacket?
Apply this to your situation
This page answers the general question as of 2005. Ask about yours and see what the current rules of professional conduct in your state say for your facts, with citations.
Plain-English summary
A retired circuit judge who continued to hear assigned cases asked whether a photograph of himself in judicial robes could appear on the jacket of a book he was writing.
The Committee reviewed the Code of Judicial Conduct and concluded that the proposed image would not violate it. It discussed examples of judicial authors whose books displayed photographs in judicial attire, without identifying a particular Code section as controlling.
In practice
The opinion approves the described photograph on the retired judge’s book jacket.
Common questions
Q: Did the Committee approve the robed book-jacket photograph?
A: Yes. It said the photograph would not violate the Code.
Q: Did the opinion cite a specific Canon that decided the issue?
A: No. It said it reviewed the Code and compared book jackets of judicial authors.
Background and rules framework
The Committee reviewed the Arkansas Code of Judicial Conduct as it stood in 2005, without citing a specific Canon as the basis for its conclusion.
Citations and references
- Arkansas Code of Judicial Conduct (reviewed generally; no specific Canon identified).
See also
No sibling opinions yet indexed.
Source
- Landing page: https://jddc.arkansas.gov/opinions/opinion-no-2005-06/
Original opinion text
Reproduced from the official source for research purposes. The linked source is authoritative.
December 6, 2005
The Honorable Lawrence E. Dawson
Circuit Judge, retired
Jefferson County Courthouse, Suite 216
101 West Barraque Street
Pine Bluff, Arkansas 71601
Re: Advisory Opinion No. 2005-06
Dear Judge Dawson:
You have advised our committee that you are a retired Circuit Judge, having retired on December 31, 1998 but that you do continue hearing cases on assignment from the Chief Justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court. You advised that you are in the process of writing a book that will probably be entitled “Fifty Years and a Judge and Counting”. You asked, “...whether placing my robed photograph on the jacket cover of the book I am writing would violate our Judicial Ethics.”
There has been a long tradition of judges being the authors of books on both legal and nonlegal subjects from Justice John Marshall to Chief Justice Rehnquist. See “Judicial Conduct and Ethics, Second Edition by Shaman, Lubet and Alfini, Section 9.02. One of Chief Justice
Rehnquist’s books, “The Supreme Court” has his picture in judicial attire on the back flap. Antonin Scalia’s “A Matter of Interpretation” has his picture in judicial attire on the front cover. “The Majesty of the Law: Reflections of a Supreme Court Justice” by Sandra Day O’Connor likewise has her picture in judicial attire on the front cover. While the Code does not apply to Supreme Court Justices it does appear at least from a practical standpoint that you are in pretty good company!
We have reviewed the Code of Judicial Conduct and it is our opinion that your placing your robed photograph on the jacket cover of the book would not violate any provision of the Code.
Very truly yours,
Edwin B. Alderson, Jr. For the Committee
JUDGE DAVID BOGARD DID NOT PARTICIPATE IN THIS OPINION
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