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PA Bulletin, Doc. No. 99-1425

THE COURTS

Title 207--JUDICIAL CONDUCT

PART II.  CONDUCT STANDARDS

[207 PA. CODE CH. 33]

Formal Opinion 98-1

[29 Pa.B. 4535]

   Notice is hereby given that the Ethics Committee of the Pennsylvania Conference of State Trial Judges has adopted its Formal Opinion 98-1 relating to the ethical considerations under the Code of Judicial Conduct of letters of reference and letters of recommendation written by judges.

HOWLAND W. ABRAMSON,   
Chairperson
Ethics Committee
Pennsylvania Conference of State Trial Judges

Formal Opinion 98-1

Letters of Reference

   The Ethics Committee of the Pennsylvania Conference of State Trial Judges regularly receives inquiries regarding the propriety of letters and other similar communications. Because of the frequency of such inquiries, the Committee determined at a meeting on July 23, 1992, to issue Formal Opinion 93-1 regarding this matter in order to provide guidance to the Conference. More recently, the Committee decided that the distinction made in Formal Opinion 93-1 between ''personal'' and ''official'' stationery was de minimis and should be eliminated. The Committee has also changed its view on the use of the ''To Whom It May Concern'' form of address. Other minor changes have also been made in this superseding Formal Opinion.

Canon 2(b) of the Code of Judicial Conduct provides that:
A judge should not lend the prestige of his office to advance the private interests of others; nor should he convey or knowingly permit others to convey the impression that they are in a special position to influence him.

   This Committee, as have other advisory bodies on judicial conduct throughout the country, has recognized that it is sometimes necessary for a judge to write letters on behalf of persons with whom he or she is familiar. As far as we have been able to determine, no advisory bodies have interpreted Canon 2(b) to preclude a judge from writing a letter o recommendation under appropriate circumstances. See American Judicature Society, State Justice Institute, Monograph, ''Recommendations by Judges,'' Cynthia Gray, Published 1996.

   In order to bring consistency to our decisions in this regard and to provide guidance to the Conference, the Committee has adopted the following guidelines with regard to letters of reference:

   (1)  A judge should never write a letter of reference for a person whom he or she does not know.

   (2)  A judge may write a letter of reference if it is the type of letter that would be written in the ordinary course of business (e.g., a court employee seeking a reference with regard to the employee's work history). The letter should include a statement of the source and extent of the judge's personal knowledge.

   (3)  The letter should ordinarily be addressed and mailed directly to the party or organization for whose information it is being written. In the case of a personal employee of the judge, such as a law clerk who is seeking other employment, a general letter of reference may be provided and addressed ''To Whom It May Concern.'' Otherwise, this ''blank check'' letter of reference should be avoided.

   (4)  The Committee also recognizes that it may sometimes be necessary to write a letter of reference for someone whom the judge knows personally and not professionally, such as a relative or close friend. Such letters of reference may be written by a judge if they are the type that he or she would normally be requested to write as a result of the judge's personal relationships.

   (5)  Any letter that may be written by a judge may be written on official stationery.

   To summarize, letters of reference may be written by a judge if they are of the type that would be written in the ordinary course of business or personal relationships. A judge must take care, however, to be sure that a person with an insubstantial relationship to him or her is not attempting to use the judge's office to advance personal interests.

   This Opinion is intended to give the members of the Conference broad guidelines addressing one of the Committee's most frequent inquiries. If a judge has a questions concerning the application of these guidelines, he or she should make a specific request for advice from the Committee, addressed to the representative for the zone in which the judge sits.

[Pa.B. Doc. No. 99-1425. Filed for public inspection August 27, 1999, 9:00 a.m.]


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