New Britain herald., 1930-11-08
SUPREME COURT
 DISBARS BRODER
Chief Justice Wheeler's Opinion Holds Judge Jennings Erred

Hartford, Nov. S-Attorncy Ed
 ward w. BrodcT of this city was
 Indefinitely disbarred' from prac- ticing law in Connec icut by q unanimous decision Of the Supreme
 Court of Errors handed down at l Bridgeport yesterday.
 The opinion, written by Chief Jus ticc George W. Wheeler, will be one
 Of the last important ones before his ,retircment December l. It dealt l severely with the conduct of Mir. and
 Mrs. Broder convicted Of adultery in
 Superior Court in September, 1929
 It was as q result of this conviction that disbarment proceedings were | brought by the grievance commit
 tee of the Hartford County Bar. The decision of the court marks the first time that an attorney has been disbarred for such an offensc alone. Of all the disbarment cases on record, so far as is known, mai- practice or offenses directly involv- ing professional conducy have been factors The court held that adul- | tery is an infamous act"
 Peck Case Cited
 The opinion cites the decision of Chief Justice Prentice in the Peck case which says, As important ds
 it is that an attorney be competent to deal with the oftcntimes intricate
 matters which may be entrusted 10 him, it is infinitely more so that n@ be upright and trustworthy. Unfor- tunately it is not easy to limit mcn- bership in the profession to those who satisfy the standard test Of ff;- 1 ness. But scant progress in that direction can be hoped for if, in the determination of the qualification of professional fitness. profession al dishonor and dishonesty in what soever path of life is to be ignorei | Professional honesty and honor are | not to be expected as the accompa-
 niment Of dishonesty and dishonor in other relations So it is here that we-hold that misconduct. indica- tive of moral unfitness for the pro- fession. whether it be professional
 or professional. justifies dismiss sal as well as exclusion from the . bar
 Pleaded Guilty
 Mr. and Mrs. Broder pleaded gull | ty to adultery after they had been arrested in June. 1929, in a raid or
 Hartford hotel led by George S Stevenson. then 2 police commits sioner and a partner of F. Clevu-
 land Hastings, Mrs. Broder's first 1 husband. Hastings obtained a di- Norce the day after his wife's con- viction and was awarded custody of
 the children. Broder vas sentenced
 10 four months in jail and married | Mrs Hastings in Manchester the day
 after his release.
 1 The complaint for Broder's dis ], barment was filed January 6 by the | grievance committee Of the Hartfor i | County Bar association. Judge New
 ell Jennings, who heard the case,
 agreed with the defense that the
 disbarment Of an attorney is ma.-
 ter within the sound discretion of
 the court and ruled that Broder was
 fit and qualified to practice law and
 dismissed the grievance committee's s l complaint.
 ReycrScs Judgment
 States Attorney Hugh NJ. Alcorn, | prosecutor thereupon appealed to | the Supreme Court of Errors which
 in it's decision yesterday said, "Therc | is error, the judgment is reversed
 and the Superior Court directed to render it's judgment that the re-
 spondent be indefinitely disbarred
 from hereafter exercising hi" rights
 and privileges as an attorney and
 from practicing as an attorney m
 this state.'
 The court upheld the contention
 Of States Attorney Alcorn and As sistant States Attorney Donald Calf l ney of New Britain that crimes
 whose penalty may be Imprisonment
 in the state prison are infamous
 when the nature of the crime in | wolves moral turpitude and the peu- | a 1tN- may be six mOnth- or more