A Trip To Israel
The Florida Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee opines on the propriety of compensating a judge for an extrajudicial trip
May a judge receive compensation via sponsorship or reimbursement for expenses related to extrajudicial activities?
ANSWER: Yes. A judge may obtain financial compensation for reasonable expenses incurred for extrajudicial activities, subject to the Canons otherwise governing such activities, and the reporting requirements for such compensation.
Facts
The inquiring judge is a former Assistant U.S. Attorney (AUSA) and has been invited by former colleagues to participate in a trip to Israel, to be partially sponsored by three non-profit organizations that each focus on Jewish-related issues. These sponsoring organizations pay for all hotel and other “on-the-ground” travel costs by participants, except for airfare expenses which are paid for by the participants. The stated purpose of the trip is for the participants to meet with various government and non-government officials, with a goal of raising awareness of the challenges and concerns faced by the Israeli people and otherwise combatting antisemitism through education. Approximately 15-20 people will be participating in the trip, comprised of current and former AUSAs, however the sponsoring organizations note that they do also sponsor other academic and professional groups for such trips.
Opinion
In the present case, the proposed trip to Israel does not appear to involve any type of advocacy on the part of the sponsors that would potentially prohibit the inquiring judge’s participation; engaging in antisemitism awareness events and related activities as educational endeavors would not appear to raise concerns of resulting bias on the part of the participating judge. Nor would the sponsors, as non-profit organizations, be likely to appear as parties before the inquiring judge in the future. Therefore, the Canons would permit the inquiring judge to participate in the proposed trip to Israel as an extrajudicial activity.
Regarding financial compensation for extrajudicial activities, the Committee has given its prior approval, under several different factual scenarios, for judges to accept compensation for expenses related to lecturing, or even merely attending, various law-related functions. For example, the Committee has approved of judges receiving free meals for attending county bar association meetings, as well as receiving compensation for hotel and food costs related to a speaking engagement with a lawyers’ association (Fla. JEAC Op. 91-09), for expenses related to a lecture to non-attorneys on landlord-tenant law (Fla. JEAC Op. 82-06), and for expenses related to speaking at continuing legal education panel discussions, whether conducted by a private nongovernmental organization (Fla. JEAC Op. 07-09) or a private corporation (Fla. JEAC Op. 92-45).
Turning to the issue presented, whether a judge may ethically receive financial compensation associated with participation in other extra judicial activities that are not specifically law-related, such as the proposed trip to Israel, Canon 6A of the Code of Judicial Conduct specifically addresses, and generally authorizes, such compensation associated with the judge’s participation – provided the source of the compensation does not give the appearance of influencing the judge in the performance of judicial duties or otherwise give the appearance of impropriety. Again, as the sponsors in the present case are non-profit organizations that do not engage in legal advocacy or partisan activities, and are unlikely to appear before the inquiring judge, the judge may receive compensation from those sponsors for expenses related to the proposed trip to Israel.
However, Canon 6A(1) provides that any such compensation “shall not exceed a reasonable amount nor shall it exceed what a person who is not a judge would receive,” and Canon 6A(3) specifies that any compensation “shall be limited to the actual cost of travel, food, and lodging reasonably incurred by the judge and, where appropriate to the occasion, to the judge’s spouse. Any payment in excess of such an amount is compensation and is reportable as income under Canon 6B(1).” Consequently, the inquiring judge shall not receive any compensation exceeding the actual costs that were reasonably incurred, nor any additional compensation from that provided to the other participants, and any compensation received by the judge exceeding such reasonable amounts must be reported as income on the annual public report filed by the judge. Notably, in addition to these limitations on compensable expenses, Canon 6A(3) further directs that any such compensation from sources other than the state or a judicial branch entity exceeding $100 shall be reported pursuant to Canon 6B(2), and therefore the inquiring judge must report the financial compensation received from the non-state, non-judicial branch, sponsors of the trip.
Finally, while it is in the opinion of the Committee that a judge may receive reasonable financial compensation for participating in extrajudicial activities, subject to the foregoing analysis, judges are advised to consider the time required for participation in such activities. The sponsored trip in the present case may require the judge to spend a considerable amount of time away from the court, during business hours. Excessive time commitments to extrajudicial activities may potentially violate not only Canon 5A(4), which states that a judge shall conduct quasi-judicial activities so that they do not interfere with the proper performance of judicial duties, but also Article V, Section 13 of the Florida Constitution, which states that all “judges shall devote full time to their judicial duties” (Fla. JEAC Op. 92-45).
(Mike Frisch)