re: Saban - "I try to be friends with the refs."

quote:

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Actually they have to be circumspect after being on the bench and are to avoid any conduct that appears to undermine their impartiality.

Fishing trips and such with lawyers could call into question impartiality.

I know several judges that were former prosecutors that have said they miss going out for drinks with their friends from the office and that for them to do so now would call impartiality into question.

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There's a vast difference between being circumspect and not being able to be friends/buddies.

I work with prosecutors and many of them are friends with judges. One of them is married to a judge.

Those same judges are friends with defense attorneys and the prosecutors and defense attorneys are often times friends outside the courtroom.

I once helped with a case where the prosecutor and judge were not only friends, but lived on the same block. At the end of the trial, the judge ruled for the defendant and then caught a ride home with the prosecutor.

It's a job for all involved and they're expected to set aside those personal relationships inside the courtroom. If a judge can't do it, then he's bound by the canon of judicial ethics (name varies by state) to step aside and almost all of them take that responsibility very seriously.