Court Opinion

ID: 9564243
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 18:56:37.546616+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:18:18.724450
License: Public Domain

Wright, J.
(dissenting) — I dissent. This application for reinstatement is the aftermath of a disbarment proceeding which is reported in In re Krogh, 85 Wn.2d 462, 536 P.2d 578 (1975). Less than 5 years have gone by since this petitioner was disbarred. The charges then leveled against him *509were extremely serious. In a concurring opinion at that time (June 6, 1975) I said at page 489, in part:
In this proceeding we have a respondent who seeks by various means to claim he did not know what he was doing was wrong. He claims to have been blinded by the prestige of the office of the President of the United States; he claims he thought he was justified by the needs of national security. The stark fact remains — regardless of the President, regardless of national security — he must have known conspiracy was wrong, he must have known burglary was wrong, and he must have known perjury was wrong. If he knew these acts were wrong and did them anyway, he is not fit to practice law. If he did not know such acts were wrong, he is not fit to practice law.
It is still true that a man who would do the things he did is not fit to practice law. I am not prepared to say that he should never again practice law, nor am I prepared to say that he should never be permitted to be reinstated. I feel that a substantially longer period of time should be allowed to elapse to let him prove that he has rehabilitated himself before he is readmitted.
The sanction of disbarment is one which is reserved for the most serious offenders among the legal profession. It is a sanction reserved for those who in the judgment of the Supreme Court are no longer fit to practice law; those who do not merit the confidence of the public; those whose continuation in the legal profession will constitute a menace to the public and a discredit to the honor of the profession. Some who have been disbarred are permitted at a later time to petition for reinstatement — many never do. Those who do petition for reinstatement must be judged upon several factors, including the degree of their rehabilitation, the seriousness of the original offense, the demonstration of his or her genuine repentance and acknowledgment that the prior acts were wrong, and other factors which may appear to the court to be relevant in each case.
*510This petitioner simply has not demonstrated that he is ready to receive reinstatement and I would deny the petition at this time. Therefore, I dissent.
Brachtenbach, J., concurs with Wright, J.