Parents
Consider
Children’s Challenges in Public Life (cont)
Adults who have grown up in a judge’s household amuse and amaze
their parents when they talk about their experience as children. When
called upon to serve as panelists in programs for teenagers currently
living with judges, they discover they may not have thought much about
their circumstances before. They seem more positive than negative about
experiences that may have seemed challenging when they happened. For
instance, several have reported that not being able to have a beer party
at their home or attending a beer party seemed catastrophic to them
as teenagers, but seems advantageous as they look back on it.
One man who admits he didn’t like being in a highly visible public
family growing up said he vowed never to have anything to do with public
office as an adult. Today he is serving in office just as his father
did. He has particular patience with his own children’s frustrations,
but emphasizes to them the advantages available to them. Judges and
their spouses can learn from Hubert Humphrey, who encouraged his son
to stop fighting his heritage and start working with it.
How
Do Children Relate to Political Campaigns?
Political involvement of children is often routine where judges campaign
for their own office. While one child thrives on public appearances,
another might abhor them. Children appreciate parents’ consideration
in this matter and conversation about their role. Helping the child
understand the bigger picture in which the election occurs can excite
their enthusiasm.
When teenagers and young adults who live in the judge’s household
want to become personally involved in political activity apart from
the judge’s own campaign, it is important to consult the code of
judicial conduct or call the judicial ethics director for the judge’s
particular jurisdiction.
Benefits Outweigh Challenges for Children
In JFI interviews with experienced parents, they say that the benefits
for children far outweigh the challenges of being part of a highly visible
judge’s family. Most say there are some things they would have
done differently. New judges and their spouses are encouraged to seek
out veterans of judicial family life who live in the community or nearby
to ask them what has worked for them. Experienced judicial parents chat
with other judges and their spouses at judicial conferences for more
ideas. The National Judicial College, the New York University School
of Law Institute for Judicial Administration, the University of Virginia
Master’s Program for Judges, the American Bar Association, the
American Judicature Society, the National Bar Association, the American
Judges' Association, many state judicial educators, and others welcome
judges’ children to come along for judicial education conferences.
In many cases there are programs available for children while the judges
are in meetings.