As if to give ethical guidance to conflicted umpire Joe West, a similarly conflicted judge has shown Country Joe the way by quitting the bench to avoid ethical conflicts.

Admittedly, the ethical issues surrounding independent filmmaker/ New Jersey Judge Kenneth Del Vecchio are a little bit different from Joe’s. One of his creative efforts was called “O.B.A.M. Nude,” and was a satirical critique of the President, though Del Vecchio played the Obama-like hero himself. A judicial ethics panel opined that his film exploits raise the specter of an ethical conflict under the Code of Judicial Conduct, presumably including the section that reads,

“A judge may write, lecture and speak on nonlegal subjects, and engage in the arts, sports and other social and recreational activities, if such avocational activities do not detract from the dignity of the judicial office or interfere with the performance of judicial duties and provided the judge is not compensated therefor.”

Major League Umpires need not aspire to the same level of public dignity as judges, even low-level, part-time ones like Del Vecchio. Some of the ethical problems are the same, however, especially in the conflict area. If there is an appreciable chance that the judge’s conduct on the bench could garner publicity for his films (or his film festival), then Del Vecchio’s judgment and objectivity becomes suspect, just like  Joe West’s balk calls are when they promote hits to his country music website.

The Judge Del Vecchio has an argument not available to West. Because he is a government employee, forcing him to give up his right to creative expression has First Amendment implications. Nevertheless, he resigned rather than challenge the ethics ruling, because his first love is making movies.

Good for him. When one’s avocation and occupation begin to clash (in Del Vecchio’s case, it’s hard to say which was which), the fair and responsible conduct is to make a choice between them, ending the conflict, the controversy, and any hint of impropriety. Sometimes, sadly, it’s just not ethical to be a Renaissance Man.

Are you listening, Ump?