A Massachusetts judge who wrote a legal thriller can publish it and participate in promotional activities like book signings and maintaining social media accounts as long as judicial conduct rules are followed, an ethics panel said.
The “restrictions on judges’ ability to write, publish, and promote books they have authored are designed to uphold the public confidence in the independence, fairness, and impartiality of the judiciary,” the Massachusetts Committee on Judicial Ethics said June 7.
Judges should also be wary of exploiting their positions for promotional purposes, the committee’s opinion said.
Judges should not allow book-related activities to interfere with their job. …