Question and answer on ethics from a newspaper...involves a judge, lawyer, and genital herpes

[Terminator]

Q: I am a lawyer. During a first date with another lawyer, we had sex, and I wore a condom. Days later, when I came down with a bad fever and couldn't determine the cause, she revealed that she had genital herpes. A judgeship will soon open up in her county, and she's a near lock for it. But if I report her lapse of sexual ethics, I doubt that the selection committee will pick her. Should I?


'A: You should not. No doubt your paramour acted dreadfully. She should have told you that she had herpes and let you decide whether you wished to accept that risk. But the selection committee is not choosing a role model for the kids or someone to ride the express elevator to heaven; it seeks a person who will excel at a particular job. I do not believe that this sort of sexual misconduct correlates with an inability to be a good judge.
Many people whose sex lives would not stand up to ethical scrutiny do their work well. Notorious philanderers have been decent enough heads of state or CEOs or generals. Some private conduct does bespeak an inability to do a job. A would-be jurist who belonged to the Klan or even one who regularly used racist slurs would not inspire confidence in his or her ability to dispense equal justice to all. You should come forward with relevant information like that. But being unscrupulous in bed does not presage being inept on the bench, and so you should keep this demoralizing episode to yourself. And your doctor.

[Pudge]

Q: I am a lawyer. During a first date with another lawyer, we had sex, and I wore a condom. Days later, when I came down with a bad fever and couldn't determine the cause, she revealed that she had genital herpes. A judgeship will soon open up in her county, and she's a near lock for it. But if I report her lapse of sexual ethics, I doubt that the selection committee will pick her. Should I?


'A: You should not. No doubt your paramour acted dreadfully. She should have told you that she had herpes and let you decide whether you wished to accept that risk. But the selection committee is not choosing a role model for the kids or someone to ride the express elevator to heaven; it seeks a person who will excel at a particular job. I do not believe that this sort of sexual misconduct correlates with an inability to be a good judge.
Many people whose sex lives would not stand up to ethical scrutiny do their work well. Notorious philanderers have been decent enough heads of state or CEOs or generals. Some private conduct does bespeak an inability to do a job. A would-be jurist who belonged to the Klan or even one who regularly used racist slurs would not inspire confidence in his or her ability to dispense equal justice to all. You should come forward with relevant information like that. But being unscrupulous in bed does not presage being inept on the bench, and so you should keep this demoralizing episode to yourself. And your doctor.

"And if it pleases the court, I would like a 15 minute recess so that I can take my Valtrex"

[countybear]

Well, I'll give my response...

If she lays on the first date, and spreads crotch rot like a plague rat, she might be ok as a lawyer, but she's got no place on the bench. Tell the world about it, man.

Seriously, who died and made this columnist so Godlike as to say that judges aren't rolemodels for children? Why is it that in our feelgood, self-centered, and me-first society we ill expect our leaders and public officers to adhere to a higher standard?

Should this woman honestly sit in judgement of family court matters, divorces, child custody hearings? Should she ever preside over a criminal case of intentional exposure to an STD like the AIDS virus? If her personal judgement is so immorally skewed as to conduct her life so raucously, negligently, and carelessly, and if her regard for another is so non-existant as to expose them to lifelong illnesses without even informing them of the risk, how can we expect her to have good judgement, wisdom, and compassion as a sitting judge?

[213th]

Q: <snip>we had sex, <snip> she revealed <snip>

BULLSHIT!

[TXCharlie]

Yeah, I'd want to put my life in the hands of a judge who has no scruples. Sounds like a great idea.

If all that is true (and we really don't know), then what's she gonna do when she has to make an unpopular ruling to serve the purpose of justice? Is she gonna rule to make it easier for herself, or is she gonna do the right thing and expose herself to public criticism?

[Ducky]

Sounds like part of a smear campaign to me.

[Jackalope]

If she screws on the first date, shouldn't he have condsidered the high likelihood that she has VD?

[Buttercup]

If she screws on the first date, shouldn't he have condsidered the high likelihood that she has VD?

Nope - he's a lawyer, his ego and arrogance probably made him think that she was so overwhelmed by his manliness that she just had to do it on the first date.