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O’Connor Says She Didn’t Authorize Recording Used in Errant Robocalls

By Debra Cassens Weiss

October 28, 2010, 2:00 pm CDT

Retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor says two mistakes were made when thousands of Nevadans got a 1 a.m. recorded phone call from her earlier this week urging approval of a referendum for merit selection of judges.

The timing, of course, was wrong. The call was supposed to have been placed at 1 p.m., and the robocall company that made the mistake has since been fired. But O’Connor also says she never authorized the use of her recorded statement used in the calls, according to the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal and The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times.

The mistaken calls have drawn attention to O’Connor’s support for merit selection, spurring some critics to question whether her activism violates judicial ethics rules. According to The BLT, Canon 5 of the Code of Conduct for United States Judges bars political activity, with exceptions in Canon 4 that allow judges to discuss legal matters and the administration of justice.

O’Connor has retired from the Supreme Court, but she still hears federal cases in the lower courts. On Tuesday, she was in a federal appeals court majority that struck down an Arizona referendum requiring voters to show proof of citizenship.

O’Connor sees no problem with her work on behalf of merit selection. “I view my efforts in support of judicial reform as consistent with the Code of Conduct for U.S. Judges,” she said in a statement released on Wednesday.