Former Mayor Of Bridgeport Loses Reinstatement Bid

 The Connecticut Supreme Court has agreed with a trial court decision to not reinstate the convicted former Mayor of Bridgeport, concluding that it was not obliged to defer to the favorable action of the local standing committee 

…in view of the defendant’s repeated criminal misconduct occurring over a five year period while he held public office, which resulted in his conviction of sixteen federal felony offenses and a lengthy prison sentence, the evidence that the defendant presented of his rehabilitation was not sufficient to establish his present moral fitness, and the uncontroverted evidence of the defendant’s false testimony in 2003 and his questionable website statements, on display as late as 2011, weighed further against him. Evidence that he had fulfilled the obligations attendant to his criminal sentence and met the prerequisites to apply for reinstatement, was employed and not bankrupt, and had garnered the support of certain members of his community, fell short of meeting the high burden resulting from his misconduct.

We acknowledge that a criminal conviction is not an absolute bar to regaining a license to practice law and that, in Connecticut, no statute or court rule directly answers the question of what period of time constitutes an adequate period of rehabilitation for an individual with a record of misconduct comparable to the defendant’s. We are confident, however, that in the present case, the defendant has not demonstrated a period of exemplary behavior persisting for a sufficient period of time to offset his transgressions and, accordingly, to provide the necessary assurance that he may once again be entrusted with the practice of law.

  Consequently, we hold that the trial court properly concluded that the standing committee abused its discretion when it determined that the defendant was presently fit to practice law and recommended his reinstatement.

The conviction involved racketeering, extortion and bribery. (Mike Frisch)