Court Clerk Ethics

Massachusetts has promulgated a Code of Professional Responsibility for Court Clerks. There is also an advisory committee that renders ethical opinions regarding court clerk conduct. A recent opinion holds that a Clerk Magistrate who is an ordained Deacon of the Roman Catholic Church and who ministers to prisoners on a volunteer basis may continue to do so, but that individual circumstances may warrant disqualification from matters where his personal relationship with a prisoner who appears before him is such that his impartiality might reasonably be questioned. (Mike Frisch)