Membership should have a voice in Stephen Glass admission
I'm all for the California Supreme Court deciding
this. But let's also have a general referendum by the membership. I'm sure
I am not the only California lawyer that would love to cast a vote on whether
or not to admit Mr. Glass. The referendum can be in the form of an up or down
recommendation to the Supreme Court from the majority of members.
Greg S. Weber
Oakland
Glass case exposes double standard
I find the State Bar's concerns about Stephen Glass and
his misrepresentations of fact in some prior pre-law-practice publications on
the question of his fitness to practice law to be a bit hypocritical. I deal
daily with deputy DAs who lie through their teeth and who put police witnesses
on the stand and elicit what all know to be perjurous testimony to achieve what
they believe to be a mission-driven end, and nothing happens to them. So, does
one have to have higher "moral character" to become an attorney than
to remain one? Or is the difference between being a government attorney, who
can say and do anything to achieve a result, and being a "regular"
attorney, who has to have truly unimpeachable veracity to satisfy professional
standards? Maybe if Mr. Glass announces up-front that he is interested only in
being a prosecutor if he gets admitted to the bar, the system will drop its
concerns. The double standard in this "profession" is outrageous – but
palpable.
Michael J. Kennedy
Indio
Concerns raised about immigrant’s admission
Query: If an illegal immigrant is here illegally, it would seem
that he/she is breaking the law, i.e. committing a crime or at least engaging
in an act of moral turpitude. Such an act is subject to disbarment or at least
a significant suspension. Thus, it would appear that admitting such
persons to the practice of law is a meaningless action inasmuch as that
person could be immediately cited and disbarred by an unbiased court. Only in
California could this kind of conundrum even be considered.
G. Donald Weber, Jr.
Villa Park
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