Who Let The Dog Out Part Two

An opinion of the Massachusetts Committee on Judicial Ethics responds to a judge’s question regarding the propriety of the judge’s appearing at a proceeding brought alleging that his dog is a noisy nuisance. The judge’s spouse is the dog’s registered owner, and thus the judge is not a party in the proceeding. With humor rarely found in judicial ethics opinions, the committee assumes that “[the judge does] not intend to act as the dog’s advocate.” It opines that the answer to the inquiry is not readily apparent, but that if the judge appears, he should not be identified as a judge or mix legal opinions with his fact testimony. (Mike Frisch)