Professor Rucker to Testify in Ethics Hearing

Guest post by Rebekah Millard (03B)

Some OBCLers may recall Professor Rucker telling the story of a prosecutor, Phill Kline, who was unafraid to stand for the rule of law, paid dearly for his stand, but was blessed by God despite the best efforts of his political enemies. That story continues this week in Topeka, Kansas, where Kline is the subject of a state ethics investigation.

In a Kansas State Ethics Committee hearing that began earlier this week, state Disciplinary Administrator Stanton Hazlett has (at the direction of the Kansas Supreme Court) targeted Former Attorney General Phill Kline for potential ethical misconduct concerning his prosecution of late-term abortion providers in Kansas. It appears that Professor Rucker, formerly Kline's chief of staff, will be playing a continuing part in this story as he testifies this week at the hearing.

Here is a little background:

Phill Kline, former Kansas Attorney General (2002-2006), was the first and only prosecutor ever to succeed in obtaining abortion records from Planned Parenthood and late term abortionist George Tiller. Despite having one of the strictest late-term abortion laws in the U.S. (drafted and enacted thanks in part to Kline's previous tenure in the Kansas House of Representatives), due to a lack of prosecutions, Kansas had remained the nation’s capital for late-term abortions.

When Kline’s investigation of Planned Parenthood became public, Kansas Governor Sebelius (now head of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) and the President of Planned Parenthood announced a new political initiative to spend massive amounts of money to defeat Kline. Governor Sebelius also used her authority over two Kansas agencies to thwart Kline’s investigation and used her appointment authority to pack the Kansas Supreme Court with justices who would work to block the investigation.

With this political machine in play, Phill Kline was defeated in his bid for re-election as Attorney General in 2006, but was elected as Johnson County District Attorney, which allowed him to retain jurisdiction over the Planned Parenthood investigation. As a result, a district court judge found probable cause that crimes were committed at Planned Parenthood. In October 2007 Comprehensive Health of Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri was charged with 107 criminal charges, including 23 felonies.

In 2008, Kline lost his bid for reelection as Johnson County DA (some would say due to the fact that his exoneration in an ethics investigation was never reported).

The current ethics investigations could result in censure or loss of law license for Mr. Kline, and, certainly might lead to the derailing of the case against Planned Parenthood.

Among the “ethics” violations with which Kline has been charged is the accusation that Mr. Kline’s strong personal anti-abortion beliefs interfered with his judgment. (Are we to gather that if a prosecutor is adamantly opposed to rape, for instance, his prosecution of rape would present a conflict?)

How to help:

Pray for God to bring justice and vindication to a man who has faithfully and professionally fulfilled his calling to uphold and enforce the law. Pray for wisdom and protection for Professor Rucker as he engages in this ongoing controversy. Pray that other state prosecutors will be emboldened to enforce the law—that the rule of law may be strengthened throughout our land.

_____________________

Find out more at Phill Kline's web site, Planned Parenthood Corruption.

Bakersfield Bar Prep

12 graduates of OBCL are in Bakersfield doing bar prep for next week's bar exam. Most of them have been putting in long days as they went through two simulated full bar exams and hours of discussion and private study.

Paul Johnson is caught looking at his cell phone during essays. He is likely to face censure from the group during a lunch hour meeting at Moo's Creamery. Luke Bowman studies on with a Bible verse from his namesake in the background as Josiah Heagy and Christiana Holcomb demonstrate the concentration that makes Bakersfield OBCL Bar Passage rates second to none.

Justin Kelly, Ryan Bedford, and Jason Lau have come from all over the world to study in the Oak Brook Mecca of Bakersfield, California.

Please keep bar takers in your prayers this week as they get ready to increase our bar passage rate.

Representing at the Federalist Society

This past weekend was the Federalist Society's annual Western Conference at the Reagan Presidential Library in beautiful Simi Valley, CA. They had a great lineup of speakers on cutting-edge legal topics, but perhaps even more important for the OBCLers in attendance, it was a time to catch up with a great group of alumni.

All told, we had more than a dozen OBCL alumni and students in attendance. Keep your eyes open for next year's conference dates, and let's keep increasing that number!

You Can't Teach Character in a 2-Hour Ethics CLE

One of the themes of Oak Brook College of Law is the importance of character in our students. Character is something that OBCL emphasizes from the time the initial application for admission is reviewed all the way through the graduation ceremony. It is part of the fabric of life at OBCL.

Character is pretty important in the legal profession. Recently, in the Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, an attorney for a residential mortgage lender lied to the Court on several issues. They may have seemed like small, distracting issues to the attorney, but the court was pretty upset. The name of the case is In re Hill, Case No. 01-22574. The court considered what punishment to give the attorney. One common punishment for ethical violations is mandatory continuing legal education on ethics. But the court decided not to do that, reasoning as follows:

The Court also rules out any requirement for mandatory CLE or ethical training. As indicated at the hearing, the essence of the Rule is a lack of honesty. The Court does not believe it is necessary to undertake training in order to know that dishonesty is wrong despite the potential consequences of telling the truth. Honesty and truthfulness are matters of character that cannot be taught, if at all, in a few hours of CLE training.

Character is something that is engrained over a lifetime of making right choices, not something that you learn in summer school or in a 2-hour Ethics CLE. OBCL understands that and looks for applicants who are already in the process of engraining that character in their lives. Once in law school, OBCL does everything it can to promote the growth in character in the lives of its students.

Calling all West Coast Oak Brookies!

A number of OBCL grads have benefited from the CLE, fellowship, and networking opportunities afforded by the annual Federalist Society convention held every November in Washington, D.C.

And then there are the rest of us, who only wish we could be there.

Well -- for the West Coast crowd, at least -- here's another opportunity to enjoy some stimulating discussion, good food, lovely scenery, and affordable CLE (especially timely for those of us in the N-Z MCLE group!) from the Federalist Society at the 2011 Western Conference. Students are welcome, too, and benefit from FREE registration.

Come out to the Reagan Presidential Library on Saturday, January 29th for the 2011 Western Conference of the Federalist Society. Click here to register (students should register, too; space is limited). This year's topic is "After the 2010 Election: What's Next for Campaigns and California?"

Here are a couple pictures of last year's OBCL contingent. Picture yourself here!

Alumni in the News VIII

It has been a while since we had an installment of our "Alumni in the News" segment, but that's not because Alumni haven't been busy! Let's take a look...

Mike Reitz writes in Washington State's largest paper on Washington's open-meetings law.

Timmy Teepell finds himself managing political crises.

Meredith Turney writes about California jobs in the latest installment of her regular Townhall column.

Peter Fear and Gabe Waddell team up with Pacific Justice Institute to educate activists on the Constitution.

Brian Tyson is featured in the Georgia Criminal Appellate Law blog.

Peter Fear digs deep into the mortgage crisis.

I'm sure there are many more stories from Alumni out there. If you hear of an OBCLer in the news, be sure to e-mail the tip to Mark Bigger at mjbigger@juno.com.

The Constitution, the Tea Party, and Tell Ten

The wave of political activism that swept the nation in the past months is bringing about a renewed desire by activists to understand the foundations of the freedoms we enjoy. After all, our common fight for freedom is the essence of what makes us American.

(To the right: OBCLAA President Nathan Deladurantey speaking at Liberty Day 2010.)

As a graduate of OBCL, I'm quite proud to tell people that I studied at a school that makes it a point not only to teach our Constitution, but also the philosophical underpinnings of our system of government - the foundations of the freedoms that we enjoy today (and take for granted all too often). The OBCL education gives students the chance to steep in the ideas that made us a great nation.

And it gives alumni the footing to go out and be an integral part of this fight for freedom - a task that many alumni take very seriously, by working in politics, public interest and Constitutional law, by donating time and money to organizations that lead the fight, and by being involved on a grassroots level.

All of these opportunities present alumni with the perfect opportunity to spread the word about OBCL, too. Law school might not be for everyone, but for the person that wants to go in-depth into this study of freedom, OBCL is a terrific opportunity.

Alumni Peter Fear and I had the chance to speak at a couple of Tea Party events in the last couple of weeks, as a group put on a "Constitution Bus Tour" aimed at educating and encouraging activists in our Constitution. We had a great time discussing a wide variety of Constitutional topics, and I received a very positive response after sharing about OBCL. People that want to fight for freedom are looking for training for themselves, their children, and their friends, and for some, OBCL might just be that opportunity.

So while you're out fighting for freedom, let me encourage you to throw OBCL into the mix. Seems like a fantastic fit to me - and a great way to massively exceed your Tell Ten goals!

(To the left: Gabe Waddell speaking at a get-out-the-vote rally in Northern California.)