[The Volokh Conspiracy] Washington governor urges judges not to drink in public:

[Eugene Volokh]

Gov. Gary Locke, in a valedictory to the judiciary, on Monday urged judges to take the pledge against drinking in public -- or at least to hold themselves to a single drink. Locke advocated a "stringent and even harsh standard of conduct," which he said could apply to all elected officials, as part of his prescription for building public confidence in the courts. . . . Locke said public drinking undermines public confidence in judges. . . . Even a single drink at a cocktail party or restaurant can set tongues wagging, so it's best to not drink in public at all, or "adopt a rigid one-drink rule," said Locke, a teetotaler. Locke said later he was also thinking of the numerous legislators who have gotten nailed for drunken driving. "It hurts everybody" when a judge, lawmaker or any public official is nabbed, he said. . . .      "Even a single drink at a cocktail party can set tongues wagging"? Well, maybe a single drink followed by dancing with a lampshade on one's head -- but I find it hard to believe that a single drink alone will do it.      I'm fully aware of the harms that drunken driving, and drunkenness generally, causes. But setting up these sorts of rules -- which will then naturally lead to all sorts of tangential complaints about supposed "appearances of impropriety" -- are hardly the way to solve it. Most adults can handle drinking at social functions, and even drinking more than one drink. Those that can't handle it shouldn't drink. But the existence of that minority shouldn't require the responsible majority to become public teetotalers, whether they're judges or not. -- Posted by Eugene Volokh to The Volokh Conspiracy at 4/27/2004 03:35:33 PM

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