Recently, it was reported in some general media outlets, in a tone clearly suggesting impropriety, that Chief Justice Stuart Rabner had elevated Hudson County Assignment Judge Jeffrey Jablonski to the Appellate Division after Jablonski reported that he had entered into a consensual personal relationship with a member of the court staff under his supervision.

In our opinion, the record here reflects nothing except two judicial officers acting responsibly and in accordance with relevant ethical principles in addressing a potentially sensitive matter with both practicality and propriety. In short, there is nothing here.

Judges do not forswear all human contact upon assuming the bench, and Jablonski, whose wife had tragically died in a skiing accident early in the year, was free to seek the same personal relationships, whether romantic or platonic, in which most adults engage. The fact that he developed such a relationship with someone whom he knew from the work environment is not itself improper so long that it is clear that the relationship is completely consensual.