Navigation Judicial ethics panel clears judges to join sponsored trip to Israel
Florida’s judicial ethics panel says judges may accept reasonable expense reimbursements for participating in educational trips or other extrajudicial activities — including those not directly related to the law — as long as such involvement doesn’t compromise their impartiality or violate reporting rules.
The Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee acted April 6 in Opinion Number: 2025-08.
The ethics panel was asked by a judge, a former assistant U.S. attorney, who has been invited by former colleagues to participate in a trip to Israel, to be partially sponsored by three non-profit organizations that each focus on Jewish-related issues. These sponsoring organizations pay for all hotel and other “on-the-ground” travel costs for participants, except for airfare. The purpose of the trip is for the participants to meet with various government and non-government officials, with a “goal of raising awareness of the challenges and concerns faced by the Israeli people and otherwise combatting antisemitism through education.”
