FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NOVEMBER 13, 2015
CONTACT: GENE STILP
717-829-5600
genestilp@comcast.net
STILP ACCUSES SUPREME COURT OF INACTION
ON DISBARMENT OF KATHLEEN KANE
Just what are the responsibilities of the Supreme Court when a suspended Pennsylvania attorney ignores the suspension order and practices law?
The unanimous opinion is that the Supreme Court, through its Disciplinary Board, should take the next step and start the disbarment process.
Should the Supreme Court take into consideration the effects of a disbarment on the attorney in question and hold back on seeking disbarment?
The unanimous opinion is a resounding “No.”
So why is the Pennsylvania Supreme Court holding back on seeking the disbarment of suspended attorney Kathleen Kane?
Was the Chief Justice Tom Saylor out of line by speaking at a Pennsylvania Press Club event and announcing that the Supreme Court would not remove Kathleen Kane from office?
He was right. The Supreme Court doesn’t have the right to remove Kane directly. But they do have the right to disbar an attorney. It looks like the Supreme Court does not want its hands on the effects of disbarment.
Is the Supreme Court coddling the suspended attorney Kathleen Kane by treating her different then other suspended attorneys who should face disbarment proceedings? Is the Supreme Court derelict in its duty by not proceeding and launching disbarment proceedings?
It sure looks like it.
The Constitution says that the Attorney General must be a member of the Pennsylvania bar to be in that position. No bar membership, no attorney generalship. A suspended attorney is still a member of the Pennsylvania bar. The only thing the Supreme Court can deal with is the disbarment. It should not matter to the Supreme Court that a disbarment would result in Kane loosing the ability to be attorney general because Kane had lost the Constitutional qualification to be Attorney General.
So what if Kathleen Kane is heavily charged by the Montgomery County District Attorney. So what if the Governor and the Senate are involved in the Article VI, Section 7, reasonable cause, direct address removal process. That doesn’t give Chief Justice Saylor and the other justices the right to ignore the activities of a suspended attorney who is still acting like an attorney.
The Supreme Court still has a direct duty to preform and they are by design ignoring their duty and setting horrible precedent for future disbarment cases.
It is time for the Disciplinary Board and the Supreme Court to launch disbarment proceeding no matter the length and no matter the consequences for the suspended attorney in question.
The unquestionable “legal” actions of Kane since the effective date of the order are well documented and even include statements from the highest deputies in the Office of Attorney General opposing actions Kane has taken which they consider “legal” in nature.
I personally have filed six Disciplinary Board complaints, the most recent ones point out illegal “legal” activities by Kane that are in violation of the suspension order.
It is time for Chief Justice Saylor and the Supreme Court to stop coddling Kane and start disbarment proceedings no matter how long the process takes.
Gene Stilp is a good government activist who filed the first Disciplinary Board complaint against Kane and filed the Supreme Court case to ask the Court to force the Governor and Senate to use “direct address” to remove Kane for reasonable cause. The Senate has since acted and started the process.