Where Judicial Dignity and Stand-Up Comedy Intersect

Judicial ethics panels tend to frown...

Via Law.com:

A judge walks into a bar and launches into a stand-up routine. The bartender asks, "Is this a joke?" The judge says, "Let me check with the Advisory Committee on Extrajudicial Activities."

That's not exactly how South Hackensack, N.J., Judge Vincenzo Sicari -- alias comic "Vince August" -- got into an ethics pickle. But he did make the inquiry, and the outcome wasn't so funny: The panel that regulates New Jersey municipal judges' moonlighting said he can't decide cases by day and do shtick by night.

Sicari, though his term on the bench ends Dec. 31, isn't taking the ultimatum lying down. He's asked the state Supreme Court for review, and the justices on Oct. 8 agreed to hear the case, In the Matter of Opinion No. 12-08 of the Supreme Court Committee on Extrajudicial Activities, A-23-10

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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"Friending" the Judge

Another episode in our continuing series,  Facebook meets the judicial system and goodness knows where that will lead....

This time, a North Carolina judge has been reprimanded for "friending" husband's counsel in a pending family law case, and having the occasional chat about the proceeding on Facebook - while trial was in progress.

Needless to say, when mother's counsel learned of this, she decided to poke back - with a complaint to the state's Judicial Standards Commission, which has now issued a public reprimand against North Carolina judge, B. Carlton Terry Jr.:

Judge Terry agrees that he will not repeat such conduct in the future, mindful of the potential threat any repetition of his conduct poses to public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary and to the administration of justice.

Judge Terry agrees he will promptly read and familiarize himself with the Code of Judicial Conduct.

(h/t - Robert J. Ambrogi)

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

Visit our Toronto Law Firm website: www.wiselaw.net

EMPLOYMENT LAW • CIVIL LITIGATION • WILLS AND ESTATES • FAMILY LAW & DIVORCE

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