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 28 current and retired judges, and is co-chaired by the Honorable Debra L. Givens, an acting justice of the supreme court in Erie County, and the Honorable Lillian Wan, an associate justice of the appellate division, second department.

Facts/Issue: The inquiring judge serves on a judiciary-initiated committee of state and federal judges, court clerks, jury commissioners, prosecutors, and defense attorneys “formed to explore the underlying obstacles to [jury] service for jurors of color.” In the course of the committee’s ongoing meetings with community members and leaders, some elected legislators have asked if they may join the committee as well. The inquiring judge now asks, on behalf of the committee, whether the legislators’ participation would raise “any conflicts or ethical considerations for us as judges.”