The Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics responds to written inquiries from New York state’s approximately 3,600 judges and justices, as well as hundreds of judicial hearing officers, support magistrates, court attorney-referees, and judicial candidates (both judges and non-judges seeking election to judicial office). The committee interprets the Rules Governing Judicial Conduct (22 NYCRR Part 100) and, to the extent applicable, the Code of Judicial Conduct. The committee consists of 27 current and retired judges, and is co-chaired by the Honorable Margaret Walsh, a justice of the supreme court in Albany County, and the Honorable Lillian Wan, an associate justice of the appellate division, second department.

Digest: A full-time judge who participated in writing a screenplay before assuming judicial office (1) may be credited by name as a writer in the ensuing fictional film, notwithstanding that the judge’s contributions were based on the judge’s prior unsuccessful efforts to seek judicial office and other experiences but (2) may not participate in a question and answer session following the screening of the film, even in an academic setting.