Some Supreme Court judges seek relief from work stress in the comfort of their families. Others love nothing more than to curl up with a good book. And could it be, for at least one of them, a nude romp on the high seas was just the ticket?
The anonymous judge’s alleged unconventional vacation choice – a nude cruise – came to light in a San Francisco Chronicle travel article in the spring. It quoted a co-owner of the Bare Necessities cruise line, Nancy Tiemann, as saying that its clientele include: “actors, bus drivers, Fortune 500 CEOs, soccer moms, doctors, teachers, priests and at least one Canadian Supreme Court justice.”
The story came to the attention of Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, who swiftly launched an investigation into which, if any, of her eight colleagues was the alleged unrobed sailor.
In an e-mail to the author of the article, Chronicle deputy travel editor Spud Hilton, an assistant to Chief Justice McLachlin said: "Dear Spud. We here at the Supreme Court of Canada read with great interest your article on nude cruising. You mentioned ‘at least one Canadian Supreme Court judge’ has taken part, based on your conversation with Nancy Tiemann.
“We were curious, to say the least, and are wondering if you can say who those justices were,” said the e-mail, a copy of which was supplied by Mr. Hilton. “Or, perhaps the co-ordinates for Ms. Tiemann, if she is the source of the info.”
According to Supreme Court Justice Marshall Rothstein, the investigation ran aground at this point. Speaking to an audience at the University of Toronto law school last week, Judge Rothstein read a tongue-in-cheek memo which Chief Justice McLachlin circulated to her Supreme Court colleagues on May 12.
Entitled “Re. Nude Cruising,” the memo said: “I made inquiries into the identity of the judge, but was rebuffed on a claim of journalistic privilege. . . . All this is to say, that our secret is safe.”