QUESTION: Should a judge who has no professional connection with a criminal case make a recommendation to the Board of Pardons and Paroles concerning parole of the defendant?

ANSWER: No. Canon 2B provides that a judge should not use or permit the use of judicial prestige for the benefit of the judge or others. The Committee concludes that if the judge has no professional connection to the case, such a recommendation by a judge would be, or at least would give the appearance of being, an attempt to use Judicial prestige for the benefit of another. This would be true even if the judge has some personal basis for the recommendation, because there is no realistic way to separate the prestige of the judge's office from the judge's personal affairs. Compare Opinion 73.