Rules matter for judges, too

Seven Civil Court judges who were elected Tuesday broke the rules. Brooklyn’s Connie Melendez and Ellen Edwards failed to submit personal financial disclosure statements by the deadline, and five others failed to complete the mandatory campaign ethics training course in a timely fashion. The scofflaws are Brooklyn’s Elena Baron; Manhattan’s Leslie Stroth, James Clynes and Geoffrey Wright; and Maurice Muir of Queens. Maybe they took a cue from state Chief Administrative Judge Larry Marks, who just published a legally mandated annual report six and a half months late.

If judges can’t obey the rules, how can they demand that the rest of us do?