An attorney who is a candidate for Judge of the Superior Court requests an opinion on the propriety of wearing a "badge" stating that he is a candidate while he is in the local courthouse and/or trying cases.

This is an issue of first impression in this state and is obviously governed by Canon 7 of the Code of Judicial Conduct. In an effort to prevent, insofar as constitutionally permissible, judicial elections in this state from being conducted as if they were a race for some other political office in which no ethical restraints are mandated, the Supreme Court has recently ordered extensive amendments to Canon 7. Among the amended provisions is the mandatory requirement of Canon 7B(1)(a) that candidates shall maintain the dignity appropriate to judicial office. The amended Commentary to this section notes that this requirement is necessarily cast in general terms and gives illustrative examples of campaign conduct previously found to fall below the standard enunciated by this section.

Although the specific conduct posed by this request is not among the illustrative examples cited in the amended Commentary, it is nevertheless the opinion of this Commission that the wearing of a candidate "badge" by a lawyer while in the local courthouse and/or while trying cases constitutes conduct falling below the standard enunciated by our Supreme Court and hence is inappropriate. Otherwise, an incumbent judge could appropriately wear such a "badge" on his or her robe during any session of court and/or announce his or her candidacy every time a panel of jurors is assembled. The inappropriateness of such conduct is self-evident and, accordingly, will not be sanctioned by this Commission.

In addition, the proposed conduct could also constitute a possible violation of Canon 7B(2) and Opinion No. 205 (March 22, 1996) forbidding a candidate from personally soliciting publicly stated support.

For all these reasons, and in an effort to further the obvious intent of our Supreme Court to restore a time-honored sense of dignity to judicial elections in this state, the Commission has no hesitation in forbidding the campaign conduct here proposed.

This 24th day of April 1998.
JUDICIAL QUALIFICATIONS COMMISSION
By: John E. James, Chair