| Date: | 08/06/1998 |
|---|---|
| Organization: | Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court |
After the Committee on Judicial Ethics issued this opinion, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court adopted a revised Code of Judicial Conduct. Because this opinion was rendered under a prior version of the Code, a judge should not rely on it without contacting the Committee on Judicial Ethics.
You have asked us about your obligation to file a report with the superior of the Federal judge whose conduct was reported to you in the circumstances described in our Opinion 98-11, a copy of which is enclosed. As we advised the inquiring judge in that Opinion, in addition to reporting the matter to you, she had another duty. "The language of Canon 3(B)(3)(a) . . . requires that you report the matter to the Chief Justice of the court of which the judge in question is a member. (In this case it is apparently the chief judge of the Court of Appeals for the circuit in which the judge sits who has the appropriate disciplinary authority.) You therefore have this further reporting obligation. In fulfilling that obligation, however, it would be sufficient that you merely call the existence of the issue to the attention of the judge's superior. You need not express any opinion on whether a violation of the Code of Judicial Conduct has actually occurred."
We advised the judge who reported this matter to you that her obligation to report to the Federal judge's superior would be satisfied by your report to that person. We suggest that you notify her of any report that you may make in that regard so that she will know that her obligation has been satisfied.
