Judge: Leave ‘the honorable’ at work
May 27, 2008
A federal judge should never use his or her letterhead stationery — or the courtesy titles “judge” or “the honorable” — when conducting personal business, according to Frank H. Easterbrook, chief judge of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Easterbrook’s blanket note of prohibition was one of the “relatively few public comments” received on proposed revisions to the Code of Conduct for United States Judges, according to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.
A proposal (PDF) to bar judges from using their “judicial letterhead to gain an advantage in conducting personal business” is not strict enough, Easterbrook stated.
“The phrase ’to gain an advantage in conducting’ should be deleted,” he wrote. “Use of judicial letterhead is never appropriate when conducting personal business. Gaining an advantage may be the goal of this misuse of office, but the rule should be absolute. Trying to determine, case by case, why a judge used the letterhead is a mistake.”
The judicial code of conduct should also bar the use of courtesy titles in personal business, to avoid the appearance of undue influence, Easterbrook added. For example, the title of judge should not be used when the jurist is a party to a lawsuit “unrelated to the judicial office,” he wrote. (PDF)
The current code (PDF) has no express prohibition on the use of letterhead or courtesy titles.
Anyone out there experienced (or committed) a violation of the “Easterbrook prohibition”?
STEVE LASH, Legal Affairs Writer
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