Opinion ID: 1183105
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: sufficiency of time/nature of the act

Text: [3] A disbarred attorney should not be reinstated until sufficient time has elapsed to enable him to actually demonstrate, by conduct, that he is, in fact, worthy of trust and confidence. In re Lonergan, 23 Wn.2d 767, 771, 162 P.2d 289 (1945). The purpose of this rule is not punishment nor does the mere lapse of time constitute evidence of rehabilitation. In re Eddleman, supra ; In re Beakley, 6 Wn.2d 410, 425-26, 107 P.2d 1097 (1940). Rather, the element of time is crucial to the question whether there is sufficient evidence of the attorney's reputation so as to entitle the applicant to apply for readmission. In In re Lonergan, an attorney stipulated to disbarment after he was found guilty of federal mail fraud arising out of a speculative silver market operation. After serving 1 1/2 years in prison, the attorney was released on a 2-year parole period. One month after he successfully completed parole, and with considerable support from prominent members of the legal community, the attorney applied for reinstatement. This court denied Lonergan's first application for reinstatement, reasoning as follows: [O]ne who has been disbarred  and one who has resigned in order to forestall disbarment is in the same position  should not be reinstated until sufficient time has elapsed to enable him to actually demonstrate, by conduct, that he is, in fact, worthy of trust and confidence. In effect, he is expected, and required, to establish a new reputation. In re Lonergan, at 771. Lonergan was ultimately reinstated 7 years after he resigned from the bar, 6 years subsequent to his release on parole, and 4 1/2 years after his successful completion of parole. Lonergan raises two issues which bear directly on Walgren's application for reinstatement. The first, considering the conduct for which Walgren was disbarred, is whether sufficient time has elapsed to establish, and whether he in fact has established, a new reputation. The second is whether, as a matter of law, a disbarred attorney may be reinstated before he has successfully completed the terms of his parole.
Unlike certain other states, Washington does not have a rule in which a person convicted of a felony may not be readmitted into the bar. Cf. N.Y. Jud. Law § 90(5)(b) (McKinney 1983) (mandatory 7-year period); Utah Code Ann. § 78-51-37 (1953). The sufficiency of time determination is made by weighing the nature of the offense against the time which has elapsed subsequent to disbarment. See McChrystal, A Structural Analysis of the Good Moral Character Requirement for Bar Admission, 60 Notre Dame L. Rev. 67, 86-92 (1984); Comment, Past Crimes and Admission to the Bar, 5 J.L. Prof. 179, 185 (1980). A survey of Washington cases in which reinstatement was granted presents empirical evidence that the time period following Walgren's suspension and disbarment, while perhaps brief (just over 4 years), is not disproportionate to other attorneys who have been reinstated. See In re Bowden, 99 Wn.2d 684, 663 P.2d 1349 (1983) (reinstatement 8 years after disbarment); In re Batali, 98 Wn.2d 610, 657 P.2d 775 (1983) (reinstatement 8 years after disbarment); In re Egger, 93 Wn.2d 706, 611 P.2d 1260 (1980) (reinstatement 4 years after disbarment); In re Krogh, 93 Wn.2d 504, 610 P.2d 1319 (1980) (reinstatement 5 years after disbarment); In re Johnson, 92 Wn.2d 349, 597 P.2d 113 (1979) (reinstatement 11 years after disbarment); In re Chantry, 84 Wn.2d 153, 524 P.2d 909 (1974) (reinstatement 9 years after disbarment); In re Shain, 24 Wn.2d 598, 166 P.2d 843 (1946) (reinstatement 7 years after disbarment); In re Lonergan, 23 Wn.2d 767, 162 P.2d 289 (1945) (reinstatement 7 years after disbarment); In re Greenwood, 22 Wn.2d 684, 157 P.2d 591 (1945) (reinstatement 5 years after disbarment); In re Lillions, 196 Wash. 272, 82 P.2d 571 (1938) (reinstatement 4 years after disbarment); In re Bruener, 178 Wash. 165, 34 P.2d 437 (1934) (reinstatement 4 years after disbarment). Furthermore, there are several non-Washington cases involving crimes committed by an attorney who was a public official where the attorney has been reinstated in less than 4 years from the time he was disbarred. In In re Wigoda, 77 Ill.2d 154, 395 N.E.2d 571 (1979), the attorney was a city alderman who had been convicted for receiving a $50,000 bribe and failing to file tax returns pursuant to this bribe. The attorney was reinstated by the Illinois Supreme Court 3 1/2 years after his disbarment and 3 years after his release from prison. To justify the short reinstatement period, the court noted the attorney's activities in prison and the numerous testimonials of his character. Similarly, in In re Polack, 60 N.J. 548, 292 A.2d 1 (1972), a judge who had been convicted of willfully failing to file federal income tax returns was reinstated after 2 1/2 years of suspension. See also In re Cohen, 83 Ill.2d 521, 416 N.E.2d 256 (1981) (trustee of village board convicted of accepting bribes reinstated after 5-year disbarment). But see In re Gordon, 385 Mass. 48, 429 N.E.2d 1150 (1982) (judge who was convicted of bribery and larceny not reinstated even after 17 years of disbarment). The next issue is whether Walgren's activities during the period following his disbarment establish the new reputation he must develop subsequent to disbarment. The record reflects that Walgren was an exemplary prisoner at the Federal Prison Camp in Lompoc, California. In the year subsequent to his release on parole, Walgren has returned to public life in this state. He has made numerous speeches in the area, serves as a member on the boards of the Kitsap County Council on Alcoholism and the Bremerton Redevelopment Council, and manages his personal affairs. Walgren states he is currently a political consultant for several Puget Sound firms and is registered with the Public Disclosure Commission as a lobbyist. Nowhere in the record is there the slightest evidence Walgren has done anything dishonorable or unbefitting an attorney subsequent to his release. To the contrary, the record contains numerous letters and statements reflecting an excellent community reputation. We conclude Walgren in fact has proved he is rehabilitated. [4] This is not a situation in which an applicant for admission presents us with a criminal record dotted with violent crimes in which the applicant's role and culpability is uncontested. Cf. In re Belsher, 102 Wn.2d 844, 689 P.2d 1078 (1984) (planting bomb in parents' car); In re Wright, 102 Wn.2d 855, 690 P.2d 1134 (1984) (second degree murder, possession of heroin, and unauthorized practice of law). While his guilt is not to be contested and we do not cast doubt on the federal RICO conviction, we do not know with precision the extent to which Walgren was involved in the criminal enterprise. Our inability to comprehend the exact role of Gordon Walgren in this enterprise certainly does not exonerate his breach of the public trust. It does, however, constitute a mitigating circumstance which bears on the question of whether sufficient time has elapsed for rehabilitation. See In re Krogh, supra at 506-07; In re Cohen, supra at 526-27. Furthermore, the crime which Walgren committed did not occur during the practice of law nor does it involve criminal abuse of the legal process, fraud, or embezzlement. See McChrystal, 60 Notre Dame L. Rev. at 89. We conclude sufficient time has elapsed following Walgren's suspension and disbarment in order for him to prove, and that he in fact has proved, he has been rehabilitated from the crime for which he was convicted.
Our research indicates the question of whether an attorney on parole for a felony conviction may be reinstated has not been squarely addressed by an American court. In Florida, an attorney convicted of a felony must be pardoned by the governor or the President of the United States prior to reinstatement; the rationale is that the attorney's civil rights must be restored prior to becoming an officer of the court. Florida Bar v. Clark, 359 So.2d 863 (Fla. 1978); In re Florida Bd. of Bar Examiners, 350 So.2d 1072 (Fla. 1977). Analysis of this question requires us to examine the legal disabilities which attach to a paroled convict and the extent to which these disabilities should preclude the parolee from engaging in the practice of law. At common law, a person convicted of a felony was considered to be civilly dead. 21 Am.Jur.2d Criminal Law § 1032, at 573 (1981); Special Project, The Collateral Consequences of a Criminal Conviction, 23 Vand. L. Rev. 929, 941-50 (1970). Over the centuries, this harsh penalty has been somewhat tempered by our federal and state constitutions. See U.S. Const. art. 3, § 3 (no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood, or forfeiture except during the life of the person attainted); Const. art. 1, § 15 ([n]o conviction shall work corruption of blood, nor forfeiture of estate). The common law also has been modified by statute. See, e.g., RCW 9.96A (proscribing discrimination, under certain circumstances, against ex-convicts). Nevertheless, persons convicted of felonies, whose civil rights have not been restored, may not vote in this state. Const. art. 6, § 3 (the constitution states infamous crime, which includes crimes punishable by death or imprisonment (RCW 29.01.080)). They may not qualify as jurors (RCW 2.36.070); they may not hold certain positions of trust such as executor or administrator (RCW 11.36.010); they are excluded from being guardians for incompetent or disabled persons (RCW 11.88.020(3)); their accounting licenses may be revoked (RCW 18.04.295(5)); their veterinarian licenses may be revoked (RCW 18.92.160(2), .180); their psychologist's licenses shall be revoked (RCW 18.83.130(1)). See generally Special Project, 23 Vand. L. Rev. 929. While the convicted felon is subject to a variety of civil disabilities, these disabilities may be expunged if the felon's civil rights are restored. States vary as to when a convicted felon's civil rights may be restored. Special Project, 23 Vand. L. Rev. at 1147-50. For persons on parole, the rule in Washington is that parolees' civil rights are restored when they have satisfactorily performed the obligations of their paroles. RCW 9.96.050. Accord, Kan. Stat. Ann. § 22-3722 (1981); Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 2967.16 (Page 1982); Nibert v. Carroll Trucking Co., 139 W. Va. 583, 82 S.E.2d 445 (1954). Cf. Colo. Const. art. 7, § 10 (civil rights restored upon release from imprisonment). Civil rights also may be restored upon receipt of a pardon by the Governor of the State. RCW 9.96.010. A person on parole does not have the full panoply of rights. Morrissey v. Brewer, 408 U.S. 471, 480, 33 L.Ed.2d 484, 92 S.Ct. 2593 (1972). Parole is a state of conditioned liberty; a prison without walls. Fisher, Parole and Probation Revocation Procedures After Morrissey and Gagnon, 65 J. Crim. L. & Criminology 46, 47 (1974) ( Gagnon v. Scarpelli, 411 U.S. 778, 36 L.Ed.2d 656, 93 S.Ct. 1756 (1973)); N. Kittrie & E. Zenoff, Sanctions, Sentencing, and Corrections 599 (1981). While a person on parole may participate in nonprison-like activities, the State properly subjects him to many restrictions not applicable to other citizens ... Morrissey, at 482. A release on parole does not represent a pardon nor does it alter the criminal's sentence. Rather, it represents a less restrictive period during which criminals are offered the opportunity to prove they can reintegrate themselves into society without the imposition of the full prison sentence. Morrissey, at 477; Project, Parole Release Decisionmaking and the Sentencing Process, 84 Yale L.J. 810, 826-27 (1975). Under traditional indeterminate sentencing principles, release on parole implied only that persons were susceptible to rehabilitation and not that they had served completely a full sentence. For purposes of his reinstatement proceeding, we need not determine the exact status of Gordon Walgren's civil rights. Nor do we hold today that restoration of civil rights is a condition precedent to reinstatement. There are issues, for example, as to whether his federal conviction affects his state-granted civil rights. See In re Florida Bd. of Bar Examiners, 341 So.2d 503 (Fla. 1976) (state civil rights restoration statute applies to federal crime if federal crime constitutes a felony under state law). We need not be more precise since the purpose of this proceeding is not to deprive Gordon Walgren of rights he would otherwise have under state law. Rather, in this court's capacity of regulating the practice of law, our duty is to determine whether Gordon Walgren, who has not yet completed his federal parole, may be adjudged to qualify for the privilege of practicing law. [5] We hold attorneys will not be reinstated into the bar until they have successfully completed the conditions of their parole and have been finally discharged. Reinstatement prior to the elapse of parole would not comport with the principle that a parolee is not to be accorded complete liberty and privilege prior to successful completion of parole. See RCW 9.96.050; In re Lonergan, 23 Wn.2d 767, 162 P.2d 289 (1945). This rule is empirically supported by the weight of authority in this country. A computer survey of national reinstatement cases has failed to reveal a case in which an attorney has been readmitted prior to the elapse of his parole. See, e.g., In re Batali, 98 Wn.2d 610, 657 P.2d 775 (1983); Preston v. State Bar, 28 Cal.2d 643, 171 P.2d 435 (1946) (reinstatement 4 years after pardon); In re Koester, 217 So.2d 115 (Fla. 1969) (4 1/2 years after completion of parole); In re McGregor, 122 So.2d 7 (Fla. 1960) (11 years); In re Hester, 253 Ga. 365, 320 S.E.2d 541 (1984) (6 months); In re Henritze, 247 Ga. 620, 278 S.E.2d 383 (1981) (2 years 8 months); In re Johnson, 244 Ga. 109, 259 S.E.2d 57 (1979) (3 years 6 months); In re Keane, 102 Ill.2d 397, 466 N.E.2d 208 (1984) (4 years 4 months); In re Cohen, 83 Ill.2d 521, 416 N.E.2d 256 (1981) (5 years); Maryland State Bar Ass'n Inc. v. Boone, 255 Md. 420, 258 A.2d 438 (1969) (2 years); In re Dimenstein, 36 Conn. Supp. 41, 410 A.2d 491 (1979) (6 years); Pharr v. Standing Comm., 32 Conn. Supp. 183, 346 A.2d 115 (1975) (5 years after pardon).