Conduct panel aims for procedure change on public complaints

— The Arkansas Supreme Court Committee on Professional Conduct has agreed to seek a change in its procedures to allow citizens to publicly disclose any formal complaints they file with the committee.

The agreement stems from a federal lawsuit filed last year by Little Rock-based journalist and author Mara Leveritt, who challenged the current procedures as unconstitutional.

Current procedures deem all formal complaints of alleged attorney misconduct to be “absolutely privileged and confidential and exempt from disclosure under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act,” with violators subject to being held in contempt of court and punished by a fine or jail time.

Under the rewording, Section 6(A)(3) of the court’s procedures regulating professional conduct of attorneys will read, “These provisions of privilege and confidentiality shall apply to complainants, except that a complainant may disclose the fact that he or she has submitted a complaint to the Office of Professional Conduct and the contents of the complaint.”

A lawsuit settlement agreement signed last week by Leveritt; the committee’s executive director, Stark Ligon; and committee chairman Win Trafford, stipulates that the committee and Ligon will petition the Arkansas Supreme Court within 15 days to amend the relevant section of the court’s procedures.

Then, within 10 days after the court amends the section, Leveritt will seek dismissal of her lawsuit, according to the agreement, which Leveritt provided to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

“I see this agreement as a step forward for Arkansas,” Leveritt said in an e-mail. “In the past, citizens such as myself were threatened with a fine or jail if they discussed a complaint filed with the Supreme Court’s Committee on Professional Conduct. Reporters were similarly restrained. The committee has now agreed to respect citizens’ First Amendment right to free speech.”

Ligon declined Monday to comment on the agreement, deferring to the Arkansas attorney general’s office, which represents him and the committee in the lawsuit.

In the suit, filed on Nov. 8, 2011, Leveritt asserted that the procedures interfered with her First Amendment right to discuss two complaints she filed with the committee.

The lawsuit didn’t identify the attorneys that Leveritt filed complaints about, or the associated cases, but it said both complaints stemmed from “her investigations into two controversial cases within the Arkansas judicial system.”

It said the complaints amounted to grievances “alleging that several elected public officials and a senior appointed official had violated their professional responsibilities by their actions in these two highly publicized criminal cases.”

In a news release at the time, Leveritt said after she wrote two letters questioning the actions of the three Arkansas attorneys, Ligon warned her that she could be subject to a fine or jail time if she discussed or shared related documents with anyone, “including the news media.”

“Even assuming that some restriction on the publication of information about professional grievances is valid, the First Amendment protects the right to discuss the actions and performance of public officials on matters of public concern,” said the complaint, filed on Leveritt’s behalf by attorney Jeff Rosenzweig of Little Rock.

It contended that the prohibition against disclosing the existence and nature of any complaint was “over broad” and constituted illegal “prior restraint” on Leveritt’s right to discuss her complaints with the public and the press.

The settlement agreement said while the committee and Ligon deny engaging in any illegal conduct, they and Leveritt agreed to compromise “to avoid the costs and uncertainties of continued litigation.”

Arkansas, Pages 9 on 12/18/2012

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