This diary is obsolete, since the issue it describes, namely, Alberto Gonzales falsely and illegally reporting his profession as "Judge" to the Texas State Bar, is no longer active. Mr. Gonzales' profession with the Texas State Bar has just been updated to "Profession: None Specified."
Last weekend, Cthulhu diaried that Alberto Gonzales may be lying about his profession to the Texas State Bar in violation of Texas law.
It appears Alberto Gonzales misled the Texas State Bar
In response, I reported the possible violation to the Texas State Bar through their website, and today the Texas State Bar sent me an email requesting that I file a formal grievance.
I'm writing now to encourage all DKos'ers to file grievances against Gonzo with the Texas State Bar using this form (to print out and send in): Grievance Form
Note: Some parts of the form, specifically those concerning attorney-client disputes (which this is not), are irrelevant to our grievance. Just indicate that on the form.
Cthulhu:
According to State Bar records available to the public on-line, it appears that for the past six years, Attorney General Gonzales has listed himself as a "full time judge" with the Texas bar, even though he has not held a judicial position since 2000.
This is important because his employment status affects with the Texas state bar affects whether he must take 15 hours of [continuing legal education] each year, including 3 hours of ethics...to stay compliant.
Judges are exempt from the CLE requirement, but other Texas attorneys aren't. So Gonzales is lying about his profession to get out of CLE. That's illegal:
During the 77th session (2000), the Texas Legislature added Texas Government Code 81.115, which requires attorneys to provide accurate profile information for the Texas State Bar website. Source
Charitable souls might imagine that the inaccurate information about Mr. Gonzales' profession now being reported to the Texas Bar is simply a result of Gonzales failing to update his personal information since 2000, but that isn't true. Gonzales' current address is listed at the Department of Justice.
No, it seems more likely that Mr. Gonzales is purposesfully lying about his profession to the Texas State Bar, in violation of Texas law.
I reported this matter to the Texas State Bar through their website on Saturday, and today I received the following email from a Mr. John Richards in their office:
From: John Richards [mailto:jrichards@TEXASBAR.COM]
Sent: Friday, March 23, 2007 11:17 AM
To: XXXXXX@XXXXXX.org
Subject: Re: Comments: It appears that Alberto Gonzalez is misleadingthe Texas State Bar.
XXXXXXXXX
Sorry for the delay in responding to your e-mail sent March 17, 2007
concerning Texas Attorney Aberto [sic] Gonzales. I want to thank you for
providing this information. If you wish you may file a Grievance against
Mr. Gonzales. This may be done by letter with your original signature.
>>> <XXXXXX@XXXXXX.org> 3/17/2007 3:53:36 PM >>>
From: XXXXXX XXXXXX Email: XXXXXX@XXXXXX.org Address:
City: State: Zip: Country: Region: Work Ph:
BarCard:
It appears that Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez is lying to the Texas
State Bar.
According to State Bar records available to the public on-line, it
appears that for the past six years, Attorney General Gonzales has
listed himself as a "full time judge" with the Texas bar, even though he
has not held a judicial position since 2000.
One might assume that this is merely an oversight by Mr. Gonzales. But
the Texas state bar lists Mr. Gonzales' address at what appears to be
the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., where he has been for
only a couple of years.
Please look into this matter right away.
I strongly encourage all DKos'ers to file grievances with the Texas State Bar against Mr. Gonzales via letter containing an original signature.
The Texas State Bar has separate addresses for filing Grievances against regular attorneys and against judges, and under the circumstances I suggest that we send copies to both:
To file a Grievance against a regular attorney, mail your Grievance to:
La Costa Center
6300 La Calma Dr., Ste. 300
Austin, Texas 78752
512-453-5535
877-953-5535
Fax: 512-453-6667
To file a Grievance against a judge, mail your Grievance to:
State Commission on Judicial Conduct
PO Box 12265
Austin, Texas 78711-2265
512-463-5533
You can get detailed information about the Texas State Bar grievance process here: Grievance Information
There also is a toll-free Grievance Hotline at the Texas State Bar where where you can ask further questions: (800)932-1900
Thank you for helping out.