Quote:
Originally Posted by patrickt
I'm curious. I use titles for people who were once a judge, a president, a governor. President Clinton is no longer president but I believe he keeps the title. President Truman will always be a president.
This morning I was reading the news and saw, "Former Representative Jefferson...." The representative in question is in prison.
#hen does a judge become a former judge or a president become the former president? Is it strictly the users preference or is there some sort of rule to cover this?
|
It is common to refer to former judges and representatives as "Judge" or "Representative" where I live, but it's only a courtesy title, and it would not be wrong or inappropriate to call them "Mr." or "Ms." or whatever.
In the cases I'm familiar with, the judge or representative has stepped down from their previous position and been made the head of an agency...where they may encounter many of the same people they encountered in their previous occupation.
Note, too, that's it's difficult to not to continue to call someone "Judge X" if you've been doing so for the past 15 years...