Long Shot, Not Slap Shot

Reuters has this report on a candidate for the Washington State Supreme Court

 A disbarred lawyer and former driver of an ice-smoothing machine at Seattle hockey games is waging a long-shot bid for the Washington state Supreme Court, targeting the seat of a justice who stripped him of his license.

John “Zamboni” Scannell, whose nickname will appear on November’s ballot, was disbarred in 2010 after the state Supreme Court ruled he obstructed a multi-year Washington State Bar Association investigation into alleged violations.

The violations included aiding a lawyer with a suspended license who performed legal work using Scannell’s name, in preparation for a lawsuit in Virginia.

In upholding the disbarment, Justice Debra Stephens, who now faces Scannell in her re-election bid, wrote in the opinion that Scannell’s obstruction “poses a serious threat to lawyer self-regulation.”

“He continues to assert that his conduct is upright and characterizes the entire disciplinary process as ‘fascist’,” the opinion said.

Scannell would likely be unable to serve if elected because justices are required under the state’s constitution to be admitted to practice law.

David Ammons, spokesman for the Secretary of State, said it does not check whether a person has been disbarred before letting a potential candidate enter the statewide Supreme Court race in Washington state.

“When people file, we don’t investigate their background or do anything other than make sure they are a registered voter in Washington,” Ammons said.

Should Scannell win the election, the state’s Supreme Court would decide whether or not he is allowed to take the oath of office and be seated, Katie Blinn, director of legislative policy for the Secretary of State, said. If he is ineligible,Governor Jay Inslee would appoint a new justice.

Justice Stephens, a Spokane native appointed to the court effective Jan. 1, 2008, according to a profile on the court’s website, did not immediately respond a request for comment, nor did Scannell.

The long-bearded, ponytail-wearing former lawyer was for years a Zamboni driver at Seattle-area hockey games, local media have said.

“If elected, I will serve,” Scannell told The Stranger, a local weekly newspaper.

(Mike Frisch)