Ezel / Ethics Opinions / JUDICIAL-MS

May a Mississippi circuit judicial candidate's committee buy a campaign ad in a Republican women's group's dinner program?

Short answer By a 4–3 vote, the Committee concluded that buying a standard candidate advertisement for the dinner program alone is not political-party alignment. Its conclusion assumes the ad does not endorse or refer to the Republican Party or sponsoring group.
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JUDICIAL-MS
Issued
2022
Source
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This page answers the general question as of 2022. 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 Not binding precedent.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 as a PDF) is the authoritative source for any reliance.
View original ethics opinion (PDF)

Plain-English summary

A circuit judicial candidate asked whether his campaign committee could purchase an advertisement in the program for a county Republican women's group's Founders' Day Dinner. The Committee reviewed the statutory prohibition on judicial candidates aligning with political parties, and the Code's provisions on campaign activity.

The Committee concluded that buying an advertisement by itself would not align the candidate with, or endorse, the Republican Party. It assumed the ad would be a standard campaign advertisement that neither endorsed nor referred to the party or the sponsoring women's group. Four members voted for the opinion and three opposed it.

Common questions

Q: Does buying the program ad alone constitute prohibited alignment with a party?

A: The Committee concluded that it does not, on the facts and assumptions in the opinion.

Q: What content did the Committee assume the advertisement would contain?

A: It assumed a standard advertisement for the candidate, without endorsement of or reference to the Republican Party or the county Republican women's group.

Background and rules framework

The opinion applied Mississippi Code Annotated sections 23-15-973 and 23-15-976 and Mississippi Code of Judicial Conduct Canons 5A(1), 5C(1), and 5C(2). Its analysis discussed the Mississippi Supreme Court's decision in James v. Westbrooks and former Special Committee Opinion 2018-12.

Citations and references

Mississippi Code of Judicial Conduct: Canons 5A(1), 5C(1), 5C(2), and 5F(1), (7)(a), (7)(b)(4).

Statutes: Mississippi Code Annotated §§ 23-15-973 and 23-15-976.

Case: James v. Westbrooks, 275 So. 3d 62 (Miss. 2019).

Other opinion cited: Special Committee Opinion 2018-12.

Source

Original opinion text

Full opinion text unavailable from the official source; see the linked source above for the complete text.

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