The North Carolina Court of Appeals recently affirmed the State Bar's reprimand of a judicial candidate for referring to herself as "Madame Justice" on her campaign website, even though she had never been a member of the judiciary.Â
She had twice run unsuccessfully for the North Carolina Supreme Court (the word chutzpah comes to mind) in '04 and '06. Not only had she used the moniker on her campaign website, she also sought to have "Madame Justice" printed next to her name on the '06 election ballot, but the state Board of Elections rejected her request.
The woman initially began calling herself "Madame Justice" in '98 when participating in an Internet role-playing game. She later claimed use of the moniker in her campaign materials was a "way of connecting with voters."
The appellate court rejected her argument that referring to herself as "Madame Justice" was not an intentional misrepresentation because other public figures have used similar titles, noting that Elvis Presley was known as "The King," and Frank Sinatra was "the Chairman of the Board."
She forgot to mention Attilla "the Hun" and Ivan "the Terrible."
This reminds me of the ambulance chasing lawyer in Las Vegas who called himself "The Heavy Hitter." The other lawyers didn't like it, because they think they are all heavy hitters, so he can't say he's the only one. They forced him to change his ads to say he is "A Heavy Hitter."
