Opinion 10-131

October 22, 2010

         This responds to your inquiry (10-131) asking whether you may answer questions to a survey and participate in a follow-up interview on the topic of “Justices’ Perspectives on the Changes in Their Courts.”

         It is ethically permissible to participate in the survey and the interview as long as the answers do not involve commenting on a pending or an impending case; use non-public information acquired in a judicial capacity for purposes unrelated to official judicial duties; or express a predisposition to decide matters in a certain way. As the survey questions are essentially administrative in nature, your participation in the survey would not run afoul of the Rules Governing Judicial Conduct.

         Enclosed for your convenience is Opinion 99-44 which addresses this issue.