-Caveat Lector- <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/"> </A> -Cui Bono?- WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Peace at any cost is a prelude to war! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Clinton faces disbarment Arkansas Supreme Court rules move to strip chief executive's law license must proceed ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- By David M. Bresnahan © 2000 WorldNetDaily.com While President Bill Clinton was putting the finishing touches on his state of the union address, he was greeted with the news that the Arkansas Supreme Court had dealt him a major legal blow. Clinton will soon surrender his license to practice law or face disbarment, according to an attorney who has taken action against him. The Atlanta-based Southeastern Legal Foundation filed a complaint on Sept. 15, 1998, reported at the time by WorldNetDaily, alleging Clinton's untruthful testimony in the Paula Jones case and during the subsequent independent counsel investigation was serious enough to warrant his being disbarred. Essentially ignoring state law, the Arkansas Supreme Court Committee on Professional Conduct has failed for over a year to take any action. Matthew Glavin, president of Southeastern Legal Foundation, told WorldNetDaily in December that his group had taken the issue directly to the Arkansas Supreme Court to force the committee to act. The Arkansas Supreme Court has issued an order that mandates immediate action on disbarment of President Bill Clinton. In a previous interview with WorldNetDaily, Neal said he would not take action until all legal proceedings and impeachment proceedings were completed. But yesterday the Arkansas Supreme Court ruled in favor of the petition for a writ of mandamus just hours before Clinton gave his state of the union address. The six-page decision was critical of James Neal, executive director of the Arkansas Supreme Court Professional Conduct Committee, for his failure to abide by the law. Neal has now been ordered by the court to move forward without delay. Chief Justice W. H. "Dub" Arnold and Associate Justice Ray Thornton wrote the order for the seven-member court. All members of the court are elected in a statewide election. The petition was filed by attorney L. Lynn Hogue to compel Neal and his committee members to perform their duty. Neal responded to the court that such matters are confidential, and that he and his committee acted within their authority. The order agreed with the need for confidentiality, but did not agree with the failure to act. It stated that Neal and his committee "have certain mandates they must follow once a complaint is initiated," and then gave specific orders for the committee to follow. The court order points out the fact that when a judge has ruled against an attorney, there is no need for Neal or the committee to determine whether or not a complaint is justified. "It is significant to note that our procedures mandate that the Committee accept and treat as a formal complaint any writing signed by a judge of a court of record in this state," the court order stated. Federal District Court Judge Susan Webber Wright, the presiding judge in the Paula Jones case, issued a civil contempt citation to President Clinton for his misrepresentations under oath. The citation, issued in April 1999, states in part: "It is not acceptable to employ deceptions and falsehoods in an attempt to obstruct the judicial process." The citation also mentions an even higher standard expected of President Clinton because of his position. The president's "conduct in this case, coming as it did from a member of the bar and the chief law enforcement officer of this Nation, was without justification and undermined the integrity of the judicial system," said Judge Wright. President Clinton's attorneys did not appeal the civil contempt citation issued by Wright. "This is not a complicated case," Glavin told WorldNetDaily. "There are no issues of fact in question. A federal judge has already ruled on the issues of fact. A, the president lied, and B, the president obstructed justice, and he was cited for contempt and fined. So there is no question regarding fact. This is not a complicated case that should take a long time. It shouldn't take the six months that a complicated case would," he said in a phone interview. A secretary in Neal's office told WorldNetDaily that he was not available to speak to the press. Neal has been quoted in previous press accounts as saying that the most complicated disbarment case should not take more than six months. The order by the court essentially tells Neal that he has not done his job. It then lists the specific steps called for in the law that Neal must now follow. The citation by Wright against Clinton should have forced Neal to act, even if The Southeastern Legal Foundation had not filed a complaint, according to the court decision. Neal has been ordered to notify Clinton of the complaint against him within 10 days. The court order even gives Clinton's mailing address at the White House. Clinton will have 30 days from the time he gets the notice to respond. Within 10 days of any response Neal must provide a copy of Clinton's answer to the complaint to the Southeastern Legal Foundation, which will then have seven days to respond. At the end of that time, the committee is to vote on whether or not disciplinary action should be taken. If it votes to disbar Clinton, it must advise him that he has a right to a hearing. All of the requirements specified in the court order already exist in Arkansas law, but they were not followed. Neal did not even establish a docket number for the case as required. "Neal and the Committee offer no explanation except to indicate that confidentiality controls the information," stated the court order, which added that there are mandatory duties that must be performed regardless of confidentiality. "If Neal and the Committee have failed to initiate the procedures required to initiate and process Hogue's and Judge Wright's complaints, then we order they take such action forthwith," stated the order. Mark Kitchen, a spokesman in the White House press office, told WorldNetDaily he was unaware of the decision. He contacted a member of the White House legal staff who was also unaware of the action, but promised to provide a statement to WorldNetDaily after they studied it. Glavin said it is not the purpose of disbarment to punish Clinton. "It reminds him, number one, that the qualifications for a lawyer -- some basic things like truth and honesty, are not aspirational goals. Those are the minimum standards, and if you cannot meet those minimum standards, you cannot be a lawyer. The primary purpose of disbarment proceedings is not to punish the president -- or the attorney involved. The reason the process is in place is to preserve the integrity of the system," Glavin said. Now that Neal has been forced to act, and because the facts of the case are so well established, Glavin believes that Clinton will quietly surrender his license to practice law to avoid the stigma of being disbarred. "The committee will now begin the process and notify the president. The president's counsel will negotiate a surrender of the president's license. That's what I think will happen. I mean, why would the president want to go through this, and go through more hearings. I don't see why he would even fight this, particularly in light of Judge Wright's contempt order," predicted Glavin. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- **COPYRIGHT NOTICE** In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for nonprofit research and educational purposes only.[Ref. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ] <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soap-boxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. 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