Opinion ID: 2383775
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Question of Fitness

Text: The majority of the Committee on Admissions recommended that Dortch's application be denied, without reaching the question of his current moral character, on the threshold ground that he is still on parole. The fact that Dortch is still on parole does not, in itself, mean that he has not reformed. If anything, the Parole Commission's decision to release him from supervision is a sign of official confidence in his rehabilitation. As we see it, therefore, Dortch's continuing parole status is not something that impeaches his present moral character. The issue is whether it calls into question Dortch's general fitness to practice law for other reasons. We think it does. We conclude that so long as Dortch is on parole, he cannot demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence that he is fit to assume the responsibilities and be accorded the privileges of an officer of the court. Parole is a continuation of an offender's sentence; it is a state of conditioned liberty; a prison without walls. Walgren, 708 P.2d at 387; accord, Allen v. District of Columbia Hackers' License Appeal Bd., 471 A.2d 271, 274 (D.C.1984). Parolees are subject to ongoing official oversight and supervision, restrictions on their activities, and reincarceration for violating the conditions of their release. They remain subject to various civil disabilities as well. In the District of Columbia and elsewhere, for example, a person on parole for a felony offense is disqualified from serving as a juror. D.C.Code § 11-1906(b)(2)(B) (2001); see Carle v. United States, 705 A.2d 682, 684-86 (D.C.1998). This disqualification exists to assure the probity of the jury. See id. at 686. This court has not had occasion before now to address whether a person who is still serving a criminal sentence, either on parole or otherwise, is disqualified by virtue of that fact from being admitted or reinstated to our Bar. [12] A few other courts have addressed that question, however. As previously mentioned, the Court of Appeals of Maryland held in Dortch's very case that a candidate for admission to the Maryland Bar who has been convicted of a crime that would clearly necessitate disbarment must have, as a threshold requirement, at least served his or her sentence and must have been released from parole supervision for the offense before this court will even consider his or her application. Dortch, 687 A.2d at 245. Most other courts that have confronted this issuetypically in connection with petitions for reinstatementhave agreed that discharge from parole (or probation) is a precondition to admission to the bar. See In re Culpepper, 770 F.Supp. 366, 374 (E.D.Mich.1991); In re Walgren, 104 Wash.2d 557, 708 P.2d 380, 387-88 (1985); In re Griffin, 101 N.M. 1, 677 P.2d 614 (1983); In re Lida, 211 A.D.2d 255, 627 N.Y.S.2d 688, 689 (N.Y.App.Div.1995); State Grievance Comm. v. Hochberg, 1999 Conn.Super. Lexis 1979  (Conn.Super.Ct.1999). [13] We are in agreement with the holding of Maryland's highest court, among other courts, and with the views expressed by the majority of our Admissions Committee. There is a fundamental and glaring incompatibility between serving a criminal sentence and serving as an agent of law and justice. We think that the public expects, and has every right to expect, that serious violators of the law must fulfill their obligations to society honorably and entirely by (at a minimum) completing their own sentences before they seek the imprimatur of this court to aid in the administration of justice as attorneys and officers of the court. D.C.Bar. R. XI, § 2(a). To disregard that expectation would jeopardize the trust that clients, adversaries, lawyers, judges, and the public at large are asked to repose in members of the Bar as exemplars of high moral and ethical standards. It also would depreciate the gravity with which felony violations of law are viewed. Moreover, we have some concern that the disabilities and constraints associated with the status of parole might tend to strain the allegiance of an attorney who is still on parole to the justice system. To preserve public confidence in the probity of the Bar and respect for the rule of law, therefore, we think it reasonable to insist that an officer of the court not be someone who is serving a sentence imposed by the court for a crime of moral turpitude. For that reason, we hold that applicants for admission to the Bar of this Court who have been convicted of such crimes must have finished serving their sentences, including any parole terms, before they can be found fit to engage in the practice of law. Because Dortch received concurrent life sentences for the offenses of murder and attempted armed robbery, our holding means that we will not entertain his application for admission to our Bar unless and until he is pardoned or his sentences are commuted.