First, law enforcement. Next, attorneys?
A recent front-page story titled “Police records bill revised” (Delaware State News, March 22) referenced a bill that would open serious and substantiated police misconduct records to public view in Delaware.
This bill is a step in the right direction to protect the public from bad actors within our law enforcement ranks.
Should Delaware lawyers be next? Perhaps an interested Delaware state senator will draft similar legislation to require full public disclosure of Delaware attorney misconduct to protect the public from bad actors in the legal ranks, as well.
Complaints about attorney misconduct — see Delaware Lawyers’ Rules of Professional Conduct — should be investigated, enforced and publicly disclosed.
Currently, very limited public disclosure of lawyer misconduct is handled in a restricted discretionary manner as determined by the Office of Disciplinary Counsel — an arm of the Delaware Supreme Court — under the direct supervision of the current chief justice Collins J. Seitz Jr.
While other states disclose allegations of lawyer misconduct from start to finish, I find the Delaware Supreme Court enforcement to be the most secretive of all the U.S. states.
Only the most serious convictions have been publicly released to the media via press release. Lower-level complaints and resolutions against lawyers are not disclosed on the Delaware Supreme Court website.
Furthermore, there is no statute of limitations on lawyer misconduct, which should be limited to murder, treason and rape alone, not all lawyer misconduct forever.
Perhaps this lack of public accountability for lawyer misconduct by our judicial branch will be ignored by our legislative branch.
An alternative “Delaware Way” response may be to simply change our Delaware vehicle license plate motto from “The First State” to “The Secret State.”
Dave Graham
Smyrna
