Kentucky State Bar Association v. Taylor

482 S.W.2d 574, 1972 Ky. LEXIS 195
CourtCourt of Appeals of Kentucky (pre-1976)
DecidedJune 30, 1972
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 482 S.W.2d 574 (Kentucky State Bar Association v. Taylor) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Kentucky (pre-1976) primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kentucky State Bar Association v. Taylor, 482 S.W.2d 574, 1972 Ky. LEXIS 195 (Ky. 1972).

Opinions

PALMORE, Judge.

This disciplinary matter is before us on a recommendation that the respondent, Daniel T. Taylor, III, be suspended from the practice of law in this state for five years.

As in the case of Kentucky State Bar Association v. Stivers, Ky., 475 S.W.2d 900 (1971), the proceedings were conducted under the rules in force prior to the amendments of July 2, 1971.1 They originated on July 19, 1968, in the form of a charge signed by the president and by the executive director of the association setting forth nine separate allegations of unethical conduct and recommending permanent disbarment. A three-man trial committee appointed by the president of the association thereafter conducted hearings in which the respondent and his counsel participated. The trial committee found the respondent guilty on all but Count 6 but found also that there were extenuating circumstances with respect to several of the other counts and recommended a one-year suspension. RCA 3.400. After its review of the trial committee’s report the Board of Governors found the respondent guilty under all but Counts 4 and 6 and recommended a five-year suspension. RCA 3.420.

Though not in the order presented in his brief, the respondent’s arguments are:

1. That this court is not presently constituted in accordance with § 116 of the Kentucky Constitution and the “one man, one vote” principle of the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment to the United [576]*576States Constitution, for which reason it does not have the authority to deal with this or any other case now before it.

2. That this proceeding was brought for the purpose of discouraging and inhibiting the representation of controversial and unpopular clients.

3. That important procedural rights of the respondent were violated by denial of a public hearing and of the right to question members of the trial committee as to their possible bias.

4. That the imposition of the costs of the proceeding upon the respondent, if he is unsuccessful in defense of the charges, violates due process of law. Cf. RCA 3.-520.

5. That the evidence does not support the charges.

6. That the recommended punishment is disproportionate to the charges.

Our opinions with respect to each of these points follow:

Point 1. HB 567, enacted at the 1972 regular session of the General Assembly and duly signed by the Governor, established new appellate court districts which comply with the “one man, one vote” principle except for the Fourth District, which consists of Jefferson County. Const. §116 requires that the state be divided “by counties” into appellate court districts, which in our opinion forbids the splitting of any county between two or more districts. Therefore, this court is now constituted as nearly in accordance with our own constitution as it can be. Conceding arguendo that it may not have been so constituted before the 1972 redistricting enactment, and that the incumbent judges have not been elected from the new districts, certainly there is no authority for the proposition that it must cease functioning, abandoning its vast inventory of public work to drift rudderless at sea until a transition to the new districts has been fully consummated.

There is dictum in Hadley v. Junior College District, 397 U.S. 50, at p. 56, 90 S.Ct. 791, 25 L.Ed.2d 45 (1970) from which it can be argued that under the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment the “one man, one vote” principle applies to any public body whose members are elected by districts. In the same opinion, however, it is recognized that there may be some governmental agencies to whose work the matter of apportionment is not relevant. Thus far the prevailing view has been that the courts fall in this category. See Stokes v. Fortson, 234 F.Supp. 575, 577 (N.D.Ga.1964); Buchanan v. Rhodes, 249 F.Supp. 860 (N.D.Ohio 1966); New York State Ass’n of Trial Lawyers v. Rockefeller, 267 F.Supp. 148 (S.D.N.Y.1967); Kail v. Rockefeller, 275 F.Supp. 937 (E.D.N.Y.1967); Sullivan v. Alabama State Bar, 295 F.Supp. 1216, 1222 (M.D.Ala.1969).

It is our opinion that the “one man, one vote” principle should not and does not apply to the judiciary. In any event, unless and until it be determined by the United States Supreme Court that the federal constitution dictates otherwise we are bound to comply with our own state constitution.

Point 2. The assertion that this proceeding is a bad-faith attempt to suppress the representation of controversial and unpopular clients is simply a wild conclusion drawn from speculation and surmise. Apparently it is based upon a theory that the case against the respondent is so devoid of merit that there must be some other reason for its prosecution, the most probable of which would be that he represents a type of client the Brahmins of the bar disapprove. There is however, nothing in the record, or in the record of the federal court case in which the respondent has sought to enjoin the association, to support such a conclusion.2 Indeed, it occurs to us [577]*577that this particular contention may be less designed to help the respondent than it is to cast doubt on the integrity of the organized bar.

Point 3. The respondent’s motion that the hearings before the trial committee be open to the public was denied by the committee because RCA 3.3S0 provided that the proceedings “shall not be public” and that the record shall remain confidential to all but the parties and the court unless and until guilt be finally adjudged. The members of the committee declined to be interrogated with respect to their qualifications to sit.

We fully appreciate the principle of public trial. There is, however, an erroneous tendency today to equate all rights with those that are guaranteed to a defendant in a criminal prosecution, and we are not convinced that a public trial is necessary in a disciplinary inquiry conducted by the bar association. Publicity cuts both ways. Sometimes the desirability of having it is outweighed by the desirability of protection from it, as in juvenile matters. Usually it is the respondent himself whose protection from it is sought in a disciplinary case, but quite often there are others whose protection is equally important. In this instance, for example, it developed that one of the principal witnesses, a circuit judge, was about as much on trial as the respondent was. Under the circumstances we cannot say that public hearings would have been desirable, and we have not been referred to any authority holding that they may be required as a matter of right.

RCA 3.310 provided a method of challenging members of the trial committee for the same causes that would apply to a circuit judge, but the respondent claims that he was unable to do this because he did not know the names of the committee members until too late and for that reason should have been permitted to interrogate them in voir dire fashion, as we held that a teacher may do with respect to the members of a school board which has charged him with misconduct. Cf. Osborne v. Bullitt County Board of Education, Ky., 415 S.W.2d 607 (1967).

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Kentucky State Bar Association v. Taylor
482 S.W.2d 574 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky (pre-1976), 1972)

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Bluebook (online)
482 S.W.2d 574, 1972 Ky. LEXIS 195, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kentucky-state-bar-association-v-taylor-kyctapphigh-1972.