Opinion 24-44
March 14, 2024
Digest: During the applicable window period, a village justice who is a judicial candidate may (1) use the title “Judge” in campaign materials and (2) use a domain name such as “judge[surname].com” for his/her campaign website.
Rules: Judiciary Law § 212(2)(l); 22 NYCRR 100.0(A); 100.0(Q); 100.5(A)(1)(c); 100.5(A)(2); 100.5(A)(2)(ii); 100.5(A)(4)(d)(iii); 100.5(A)(5); Opinions 08-43; 07-135; 94-50.
Opinion:
A sitting village justice, who is currently in his/her window period for re-election, asks if it is ethically permissible to use the title “Judge” with his/her surname in campaign materials, or if he/she must instead use the title “Justice.” The inquirer also asks about the propriety of establishing a campaign website with a domain name in the format of “judge[surname].com.”[1]
A judge or non-judge who is a candidate for public election to judicial office may participate in his/her own campaign during the applicable window period, subject to certain limitations (see 22 NYCRR 100.5[A][1][c]; 100.5[A][2]; see also 22 NYCRR 100.0[A] [defining “candidate”]; 100.0[Q] [defining “window period”]). However, he/she must not personally solicit or accept campaign contributions from any source (see 22 NYCRR 100.5[A][5]). Rather, a committee of “responsible persons” must do so on his/her behalf unless the campaign is entirely self-funded (id.; Opinion 08-43). A judicial candidate may appear in and distribute campaign literature supporting his/her candidacy (see 22 NYCRR 100.5[A][2][ii]), but must not misrepresent the identity, qualifications, current position or other fact concerning the candidate (see 22 NYCRR 100.5[A][4][d][iii]).
Use of the Title “Judge”
We have advised that a part-time town justice who is running for County Court does not misrepresent his/her qualifications by referring to him/herself as a “judge” in campaign literature, because “[a] judge is a judge, whether he/she is serving full-time or part-time” (Opinion 94-50).
Here, too, we conclude that a sitting village justice is a judge and therefore may use the title “Judge” in his/her judicial campaign.
Use of Domain Name
For similar reasons, we see no ethical impropriety in a sitting village justice using a campaign website with the domain name “judge[surname].com” during the applicable window period. However, we take no position on the legal propriety of the proposed domain name (see Judiciary Law § 212[2][l]).
We caution the judge that if the campaign website solicits or accepts contributions, it must be sponsored and maintained by the judge’s campaign committee. As we advised in Opinion 07-135:
while a judge may not solicit campaign contributions on his/her own website, the judge’s campaign committee may do so on a website it sponsors, provided that the contributors are directed to send all donations to the campaign committee and not to the judge him/herself.
[1] As we understand the proposed format, a hypothetical town or village justice named Alex Doe would use the domain name judgedoe.com for his/her campaign website and identify him/herself as “Judge Doe” in campaign literature.