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November 16, 2000
Honorable
Vic Fleming
Municipal Judge
Little Rock Municipal Court, 2nd Div.
600 W. Markham
Little Rock, AR 72201
RE: Advisory
Opinion # 2000-10
Dear Judge
Fleming:
You have
asked this committee whether it is permissible for someone elected
or appointed to a judgeship to accept a robe from a bar association
of which that person is a member.
This long
standing and wide spread practice dates back some half a century
to a time when judges in this state began wearing robes. We
find nothing in the Arkansas Code of Judicial Conduct on which
this tradition infringes, nor do any of the advisory opinions
from other states criticize the practice. In our opinion, the
acceptance of a robe from a bar association by a newly appointed
or elected judge does not encroach on judicial ethics.
You also
ask what restrictions, if any, would apply in the event of successive
reelections by a judge to the same or different judgeship. While
we see no particular ethical restraints arising from the scenario
you pose, it would seem that at some point, practicality, if
not ethical considerations, would mitigate against repeated
robe giving.
Sincerely,
Steele Hays
For the Committee
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