The Commission has been asked for an Opinion as to whether it would be appropriate for a judge to comply with a request that he write a letter to endorse a Nurturing Program of the Georgia Council on Child Abuse as an effective means of preventing child abuse which would be enclosed with a letter soliciting contributions.

Rule 3.7(B)(2) provides in part:

Judges shall not personally solicit funds for any educational, religious, charitable, fraternal, or civic organization, or use or permit the use of the prestige of their office for that purpose, but they may be listed as officers, directors, or trustees of such organizations.

In view of this limitation, the Commission, in Opinion No. 24, has held that it would be inappropriate for a judge to be listed on the letterhead of stationery of a charitable organization used for soliciting contributions. For the same reason, it would be inappropriate for a judge to write the proposed endorsement letter for use in connection with solicitation of contributions by the subject organization.

[Pertinent Code of Judicial Conduct provisions: Rules 2.4(B), 3.7(B)(2). Cross reference to other relevant opinions for review: #15, #17, #24, #37, #43, #133, #138, #139, #145, #146, #161, #164, #186.]