Few lawyers and even fewer members of the public realize the valuable service being performed by the state’s Committee on Judicial Ethics, one of Chief Justice Chase T. Rogers’ best initiatives. The creation of such an apparatus was recommended to her by former state Supreme Court Justice Barry R. Schaller, who chairs the committee.
The Committee provides formal and informal advisory ethics opinions to judges and other judicial officers who need guidance in determining whether certain judicial and extra-judicial conduct comports with the Code of Judicial Conduct. It has five members, four of whom are judges or judge trial referees, and one a law professor with expertise in professional ethics. They serve varying terms of service.
