This guide was prepared in December 2022 to assist judges in quickly assessing the ethical propriety of their conduct in situations that frequently arise during the holiday season.
As a digest of the Committee’s prior opinions, it is intended as a starting point for research and to help judges decide when they should seek more tailored guidance from the Committee on their own specific circumstances.
Attending Holiday Parties
Whether a judge may attend a holiday party depends, in part, on who is hosting the event.
Generally, if it is sponsored by a campaign committee, political club, political party, or other political organization, attendance is impermissible (for judges outside their window period).
If it is sponsored by a person or entity that appears before the judge, attendance is permitted if the event qualifies as “ordinary social hospitality.” Please ask the Committee for guidance if the event appears to be unusually expensive or lavish.
- Politically Sponsored
(Note: Declared candidates within their window period for election or re-election to judicial office may consult the Judicial Campaign Ethics Center and/or the Judicial Campaign Ethics Handbook for guidance on attending political events.)- Opinion 07-211 A judge who is not a candidate for elective judicial office may not attend a holiday party hosted by his/her friend who also is a member of Congress when the party is held at a commercial venue and is financed with the friend’s campaign funds.
- Opinion 09-41 A judge may not, outside their window period, attend a holiday gathering sponsored by a political entity and paid for by that entity’s campaign fund, even when the event is primarily social and festive.
- Ordinary Social Hospitality
- Opinion 12-185 A judge may accept an invitation to be the dinner guest of attorneys who have regularly appeared in the judge’s court, if the dinner qualifies as ordinary social hospitality.
- Opinion 10-195 Judges may attend holiday and other special occasion celebrations sponsored by law firms, legal agencies and legal services agencies, and otherwise accept ordinary social hospitality from such
- Opinion 06-172 A Court Attorney-Referee may attend an ordinary holiday dinner party as a guest of the host attorney who regularly appears in the court. He/she may, alternatively, elect to pay for the meal.
- Opinion 06-170 A judge may attend a holiday party sponsored by local law enforcement agencies, provided the judge avoids any actions that may be perceived to advance the private interests of the organization, or of individuals attending, or which may otherwise create an appearance of impropriety.
- Lavish Events
- Opinion 22-72 A judge may not accept complimentary tickets to attend a non-profit entity’s unusually expensive and lavish fund-raising gala, but may purchase tickets and attend the event.
- cf. Opinion 13-192 A judge who has retained a firm to promote and lobby for a proposed law relating to the courts and the judiciary may briefly attend the reception portion of the firm’s otherwise lavish holiday party, which includes a cocktail party followed by a live musical performance.
Making Charitable Donations and Volunteering
- Opinion 20-190 A judge may contribute their personal funds, either alone or with a co-judge, to sponsor a family in need, and may be identified by name and title in doing so. However, the judge may not make charitable contributions in the name of the court or permit their court staff to do so.
- Opinion 20-203 A judge may personally contribute to the Salvation Army's Red Kettle campaign, and may permit the organization to acknowledge the judge's contribution in the same manner as it would acknowledge contributions from other members of the public.
- Opinion 10-157 A judge may deliver food baskets to needy families and drive the judge’s personal vehicle bearing judicial license plates while doing so, but may not collect donations of food or cash.
- Opinion 09-32 A judge may voluntarily assume certain duties such as ordering food and processing paperwork currently performed by the head of a local food pantry, run by a local church.
- Opinion 01-123 A judge may donate a holiday ornament to be auctioned, for fund-raising purposes, by a not-for-profit organization, so long as the judge does not participate in the solicitation of funds or allow the prestige of the judge's office to be used for fund-raising by the organization.
Fundraising and Soliciting Charitable Donations
- Opinion 20-203 A judge may not be a “bell ringer” for the Salvation Army’s Red Kettle campaign, which requires standing next to a kettle and ringing a jingle bell at the entrance to a store for individuals to donate money as they walk by, although the judge may make a personal contribution to the charitable organization.
- Opinion 02-82 A part-time judge may play the role of Santa Claus in a weekend holiday promotion sponsored by a local merchants’ association, where the judge would not be placed in the position of soliciting funds.
- Opinion 96-121 A judge may serve as a director of a not-for-profit organization which provides toys and clothing to needy children at Christmas time and may assist in the planning and production of the organization's fund-raising television broadcast, but may not personally solicit funds, appear on camera during the broadcast nor be identified publicly as assisting in the fund-raising effort.
- Opinion 95-123 A judge may participate in a fundraising event for a church to the extent of wrapping presents for children and escorting underprivileged children who are guests of the church.
- Opinion 94-115 A full-time judge may not serve as trustee of a church if required to address the entire congregation on certain religious holidays in order to solicit special contributions.
Holiday Decorations
- Opinion 14-149 A judge may allow his/her real property to be used for a festive seasonal ceremony, regardless of whether the ceremony is associated with a particular religion.
- Opinion 06-65 A judge, who was involved in the preparation of a holiday display at a law office before assuming the bench, may continue to do so in the circumstances presented: the display preparation work uses volunteers with no fund-raising involved or donations accepted; there is no charge to the public to view the display, and there is no sponsorship or advertisements for products or services involved. The judge should, however, make all efforts to obscure the law office sign on the premises for the duration of the event. The judge may also serve as the Master of Ceremonies, speak and otherwise attend the event.
Extending Seasonal Greetings to the Public
- Opinion 06-176 A judge may purchase space in a local newspaper for greetings to the public on holidays or other special occasions, provided that the content of the message is consistent with the dignity of judicial office.
Gifts
- Giving to Colleagues
- Opinion 22-07 A new full-time judge may give another judge an artwork created by a former client, as we see no reason to prohibit this exercise of collegiality in gift-giving from one judge to another.
- cf. Opinion 12-90 There is no ethical prohibition to attending the wedding of and giving a gift to your former colleague who regularly appears before you in court.
- Accepting Gifts
Note: A judge "shall not accept, and shall urge members of the judge's family residing in the judge's household not to accept, a gift, bequest, favor or loan from anyone" unless an exception applies. 22 NYCRR 100.4(D)(5).- Opinion 15-122 A judge may not accept a gift of a food platter from a former judge, now practicing in the judge’s court, or from a bar group on the former judge’s behalf.
- Opinion 15-12 A judge may accept a gift valued under $150 from a local sports team, where neither the team nor its interests have come before the judge and are not likely to do so.
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