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Judge Can't Write Letter Recommending Kid Be Allowed to Play Football

By Eric Lipman

Sometimes judicial ethics opinions deal with interesting, cutting edge topics. And sometimes, they come out of South Carolina. Via the Legal Profession Blog, comes this gem from the state Advisory Committee on Standards of Judicial Conduct. The opinion is concise, at four paragraphs, yet I'm not entirely sure I grasp the situation (typos aside). It seems a kid who appeared before this juvenile court judge wants to play football. For a school other than the one he would normally be slated to attend. The kid's mother worries that, though he will apparently be allowed to change schools for educational purposes, they might not let him on the field because of the whole geographic discrepancy. So mom asked the judge to write a letter to the high school football authorities recommending that the child be permitted to be on the team. The committee said no go. That would constitute "lend[ing] the prestige of judicial office to advance the private interest of others." But all hope is not lost. This letter would be bad only because the judge had not received some sort of "formal request." If the kid's lawyer makes a motion, it would be just ducky for the judge to...

Full post as published by Legal Blog Watch on October 13, 2010 (boomark / email).