In New York, Judges Having Special License Plates is Not Unethical

09/25/12

In its opinion released last week, the Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics, New York, said that special license plates issued for judges do not amount to using the “prestige” of their offices to advance private interests. The question had been raised by an unnamed judge, whether the use of special license plates used by judges could be considered unethical, and at least for New York, the answer is no.

The 26-member panel chaired by the former First Department justice George Marlow wrote, “The otherwise lawful display of a license plate duly issued by the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles is not rendered ethically impermissible merely because the license plate indicates that the vehicle registrant is a judge.”

According to current rules, judges have the right to apply for license plates in the same manner any ordinary citizen can obtain vanity plates. Special license plates for judges display the name of the court where the judge sits along with the number.

The practice had been criticized last month by the New York Daily News, which raised a call for stopping the distribution of such license plates to judges.

The state Commission on Judicial Conduct had raised the issue in the matter of an upstate town justice, Diane Schilling, who was accused of fixing a speeding ticket for another judge's wife and for using her authority to void a ticket issued to her. In the Schilling decision, the commission had written, “This case represents a stark example of this problem and raises a systemic issue of how judicial license plates distort the normal process of enforcing traffic laws and the delicate position faced by law enforcement officers when they stop a vehicle with judicial plates.” Consequent to the controversy, Schilling had resigned as town justice and also stepped down from her post involved in training town and village justices.

According to the commission, at least one-third of New York's 1,300 state level judges have special license plates and they need to be surrendered before they leave the bench. Lower level judges can have plates identifying them as members of the State Magistrates Association, and can continue using such plates even after retirement.

The opinion of the Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics comes at a time when the state Commission on Judicial Conduct is completing a review over unfair use of such license plates by judges for avoiding traffic tickets. The chief administrator of the state Commission on Judicial Conduct said, “The commission is comparing New York's practice with other states, and examining the public policy purposes and implications of identifying personal vehicles as belonging to judges.”

While the issue of misuse remains open until the commission completes its review, the question of whether the issuance of such license plates and their ordinary use is ethical or not has been settled, apparently for now.