Legal ethics expert weighs in on DOJ complaint against Minnesota Judges
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The U.S. Justice Department filed a misconduct complaint on Wednesday against Minnesota Judges who gave interviews to the New York Times about Operation Metro Surge.
U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche said the judges were in "clear violation of their ethical duties" and took issue with commenting on a pending case.
But the author of “Minnesota Legal Ethics” doesn’t think it’s as clear cut as the attorney general put it.
“One of the two rules the DOJ alleges was violated says that a judge should act in a manner that promotes public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary,” longtime ethics attorney William Wernz told MPR’s Morning Edition. “There's an affirmative duty to promote public confidence, and the judges clearly thought that that's what they were doing. As they weren't violating the rule, they were fulfilling their duty to promote public confidence.”
Wernz added that it would be up to a judge to make the decision as to whether participating in the interviews promoted public confidence.
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