HOW CAN THIS BE?
A Stain on the Offices of Attorney General
In my first year of law school back in 1975, students were encouraged to begin their applications for admission to The Florida Bar, the governing body of lawyers in Florida, right away. That’s right, the group that stamps your ticket to practice in the Courts throughout the state. Even though we wouldn’t be taking the bar exam until three years later (after graduation from an accredited law school), it would take three years for the Florida Board of Bar Examiners to investigate and painstakingly study our backgrounds. I had to fight with the Board to explain why I couldn’t remember all of the addresses of the crappy apartments I had lived in during undergraduate years—because I had used a post office box for all of that time and could remember only that address. That heavens we got that cleared up so that I was deemed unlikely to commit fraud on clients, the courts or the public!
The Board of Bar Examiners expanded its investigations beyond mailing addresses; now applicants must provide comprehensive financial history and must disclose any treatment for mental health issues—all to be accompanied by years of records. The Board sends letters to all of an applicant’s records; those recipients are asked to provide ten additional names who can vouch for the character of the applicant.
I would like to see the Board of Bar Examiners’ investigations on Pamela Jo Bondi (admitted 1991), Ashley Moody (admitted 2001) and James Uthmeier (admitted 2014). I would like to know exactly who vouched for the credibility and for their ability to follow the Florida Bar Rules of Professional Conduct. I would like to see what glorious remarks were submitted encouraging the gatekeeper of a professional organization requiring honesty and reliability to let these people in. I wonder if any of those cheerleaders now regret their endorsements.
Pam Bondi should have been disciplined by the Bar when she dismissed all of the complaints against Trump University after one of his charities made an illegal $25,000.00 contribution to her campaign. She should also be called upon to explain instructing underlings in the Department of Justice to make false representations to a judge. Uthmeier should be disciplined for instructing law enforcement officers to ignore the injunctive order of a Federal Judge. Moody should be disciplined for making false assertions as a public official. ALL of these transgressions are governed by the Rules of Professional Conduct, and all are prohibited. Maybe if any of these three couldn’t have remembered all of their previous addresses, they wouldn’t be lawyers now.