Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee opines on problem-solving court gifts
A court administrator can accept an unsolicited donation from a local bar association to use as incentive gifts in the local problem-solving courts, according to the Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee.
The committee, in a recent opinion, answered an inquiry from a judge who had been approached about the donation by a local bar. The association had foregone its annual reception honoring the local judiciary and asked instead if it could make a one-time donation for gifts to participants in the problem-solving courts, which include drug, mental health, or veterans specialty courts.
The inquiring judge did not request the donation.
While past JEAC decisions, particularly Opinion 2007-05, have held that judges cannot accept gifts from lawyers or law firms likely to come before the judge, the inquiring judge noted in this case the gift came from a bar association and the judge had not solicited the gift.
The committee noted that the ABA, Nevada, and Arizona have recently held such gifts are allowed.
With that in mind, the committee said, “[W]e conclude that the court administrator for the circuit can accept the one-time donation for the purpose of distributing gift-cards as incentives in the Problem-Solving Court. In reaching this conclusion, we do not recede from our opinion in Fla. JEAC Op. 2007-05. The inquiring judge, and the judges of the court, should be mindful of that opinion and the Code of Judicial Conduct when distributing the gift cards.”
The JEAC is charged with rendering advisory opinions to judges and judicial candidates on the application of the Code of Judicial Conduct to their circumstances. While judges and candidates can cite the opinion as evidence of good faith, the opinions are not binding on the Judicial Qualifications Commission.
The full text of Opinion 2021-12 will eventually be posted online here.
