At a recent California City Council meeting, a local judge swore in 2 new Councilman post-election. One was incumbent, the other a first-timer.
After administering the oath, and while wearing his robes, the judge offered a few “words of advice”. Most of it was platitudes to uphold both the State and US Constitutions as the oath required.
At the end of his speech though, he shifted tone and offered direct advice to the Council as a body. In particular, he offered guidance as to what he thought would be wise fiscal policies for them to follow in this time of tight budgets.
My questions are these:
1 - Is it appropriate for the Judicial Branch to be offering advice to the Legislative body as such?
2 - Did the Judge use the prestige of his office to influence local elected officials to his preferred policy?
3 - There was no speech listed on the agenda, only the swearing in. I understand it is a ceremony, but did the Judge cross the line into making public comments at a time when no other members of the public were entitled to?
4 - Are there any ethical other issues involved when a Judge in robes appears before Council to offer advice?