Can a sitting town, village, or city justice use the title 'judge' or 'justice' in campaign materials when running for a higher judicial office?

Plain-English summary

The committee was asked whether an incumbent town, village, or city justice may use the term "judge" or "justice" in campaign literature or broadcasts when seeking election to a higher judicial office. It started from the duty in the Rules of the Chief Administrator (22 NYCRR 100.1) and Canon 1 of the Code of Judicial Conduct that a judge maintain high standards of conduct to preserve the integrity and independence of the judiciary, and from N.Y. State 289, which set campaign guidelines for judicial candidates and stated that nothing in them prohibits an incumbent judge from using "judge" or "justice" as a title or description of the present office.

The committee held that while the use of the title is truthful, it could mislead a lay reader or listener without additional information showing that the candidate is not an incumbent of the higher office sought, but is a lower-court judge. Absent that disclosure, the statement carries a potential for deception. Citing Canon 7's instruction that a judge refrain from conduct misrepresenting present position or other fact, and the caution in N.Y. State 487 about even slight ambiguity misleading the uninformed, the committee concluded that a judicial candidate who wishes to trade on holding a town or village justiceship or other part-time judgeship should specify, in the campaign speech, broadcast, or literature, the nature of the judicial office actually held. The question was answered in the affirmative, subject to that restriction.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 1990, and it interprets the former Code of Judicial Conduct and the Rules of the Chief Administrator as they then stood; New York's judicial conduct rules have since been revised (the Rules Governing Judicial Conduct, 22 NYCRR Part 100). Subsequent rule amendments or later opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current guidance. Verify against current rules before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or requirement mentioned here.

Common questions

Q: Can a sitting lower-court judge call themselves "judge" or "justice" in a campaign for higher office?

A: Yes. The committee held that an incumbent judge may use the title in campaign materials, consistent with N.Y. State 289, which expressly allowed use of the title to describe the candidate's present office.

Q: What has to accompany the title?

A: The materials should specify the nature of the present judicial office held. The committee held that without that disclosure, using "judge" or "justice" could mislead the public into thinking the candidate already holds the higher office sought.

Q: What standard governs the disclosure?

A: Canon 7 of the Code of Judicial Conduct directs a judge to refrain from conduct that misrepresents present position or other fact, and the committee, citing N.Y. State 487, stressed that even slight ambiguity may mislead the uninformed.

Background and rules framework

The opinion interpreted the Code of Judicial Conduct, principally Canon 1 (preserving the integrity and independence of the judiciary, echoed in 22 NYCRR 100.1) and Canon 7's provision (rendered in the source as Canon 7(B)(1)(c)) that a judge refrain from conduct misrepresenting identity, qualifications, present position, or other fact, together with the judicial-campaign guidelines of N.Y. State 289. Because the subject is a judge's campaign conduct, the governing standards are the Code of Judicial Conduct rather than a Model Rule of Professional Conduct.

Citations and references

Rules of Judicial Conduct:

• Code of Judicial Conduct Canon 1 (integrity and independence of the judiciary)
• Code of Judicial Conduct Canon 7(B)(1)(c) (no misrepresentation of present position or other fact)
• 22 NYCRR 100.1 (standards of judicial conduct)

Cases:

• Matter of von Wiegen, 63 N.Y.2d 163 (1984): the potential-for-deception standard

Other opinions cited:

• N.Y. State 289 (1973): campaign guidelines for judicial candidates; use of the title for the present office
• N.Y. State 487 (1978): even slight ambiguity may mislead the uninformed

See also

• NY State Bar Op. 632: Disqualification of a part-time judge and the judge's firm
• NY State Bar Op. 617: Administrative law judge disqualification after agency staff service

Source

• Landing page: https://nysba.org/opinion-612/