Fire Leads To Conviction, Revocation

From the web page of the Ohio Supreme Court:

Becausethe professional misconduct charges against McAuliffe arose from hiscriminal convictions, the Board of Commissioners on Grievances &Discipline granted his request to stay its disciplinary proceedingsagainst him until his appeals contesting those convictions had beenadjudicated in the federal court system. That process was finallycompleted in late 2007, when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to reviewa ruling by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals affirming hisconvictions.

In today’s decision, the Court adopted thecommissioners’ findings that McAuliffe had violated the state attorneydiscipline rules that prohibit illegal conduct involving moralturpitude; conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit ormisrepresentation; conduct prejudicial to the administration ofjustice; and conduct that reflects adversely on an attorney’s fitnessto practice. The Court also found violations of the state judicialconduct rules that require judges to comply with the law at all timesand to avoid impropriety.

In affirming the board’srecommendation of permanent disbarment as the appropriate sanction, theCourt reiterated its holding in a 1998 judicial discipline case that: “When a judge’s felonious conduct brings disrepute to the judicialsystem, the institution is irreparably harmed. … By this sanction, weaim to protect both the public and the integrity of the judicial systemitself.”

The court’s opinion is linked here. (Mike Frisch)