JUDGES AND POLITICIANS

Without regard to the origin of the complaint or the closeness of the political balance in the state Senate, a state supreme court committee has concluded that a sitting judge of probate couldn’t also be a candidate for the Legislature. The Judicial Ethics Committee read the law in the same straightforward way a layman would, and its conclusion suggests Probate Judge James P. Dunleavy, a Democrat in the County’s Senate District 2 race must choose between his current career and his current pursuit, a choice the judge unfortunately rejects.

Judge Dunleavy, a Democrat, says the complaint from Republican Senate President Richard Bennett was politically motivated. No doubt it was, but that doesn’t make it wrong. Judge Dunleavy has commented in news stories about the timing of the complaint, which came after the deadline for which his party could replace him. Again, that probably wasn’t an accident, but as former Chief Justice Daniel Wathen found in his brief run for governor, the atmosphere in political races is wholly different from that in courthouses.

The issue raised by Sen. Bennett falls under canon 5(A)(3) of the Maine Code of Judicial Conduct, which says, “A judge shall resign from judicial office upon becoming a candidate for any elective office except that a judge of probate may be a candidate for re-election while holding that office. …” Therefore, says the committee logically, “the Probate Judge should resign his judicial office upon becoming a candidate for election to the State Senate.”

It should be noted that Sen. Bennett did not seek a ruling from the Ethics Committee; Judge Dunleavy did. The committee hasn’t the jurisdiction to impose disciplinary measures – that’s the purview of the Committee on Judicial Responsibility and Disability, which Sen. Bennett did contact and which has yet to respond with a decision. Judge Dunleavy is competing against Sen. Richard Kneeland, who is completing his first term in the Senate after four terms in the House.

The need to strictly separate politicians and judges is apparent to anyone interested in keeping politics out of court decisions. Indeed, Judge Dunleavy understands this point and has said he would resign his judgeship were he elected to the Legislature. The state’s judicial code, however, is also clear enough on the subject of campaigns, and whatever the expected decision of the judicial-responsibility committee, the public’s interest is best served when judges aren’t going door to door asking for help in their election to the Legislature.