Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton can add an ethics investigation to the growing list of potential ways he has violated the law (including three felony charges, of course). The State Bar of Texas had originally declined to explore a complaint from “hundreds” of state attorneys that Paxton had "exceeded the scope" of his constitutional and statutory authority when he said state officials could ignore the Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage based on their religious beliefs.
But after the bipartisan contingent of Texas lawyers appealed the decision, the Board of Disciplinary Appeals has now ordered the state to review the matter, reports John Wright at Towleroad. In a press release, Houston attorney Eddie Rodriguez noted:
"The Texas ethics rules prohibit any lawyer, including the Attorney General, from counseling a client to engage in conduct that the lawyer knows is criminal or fraudulent."
The ball is now in Paxton's court to respond. Rodriguez explained to me that if the Office of the Chief Disciplinary Counsel finds "just cause" for an ethics violation, then the matter will be sent either to an administrative review panel or a district court for adjudication. The result could be a penalty ranging anywhere from a slap on the wrist to a loss of license, which could be effectively fatal for Paxton’s tenure as Attorney General.
But Rodriguez is already doubtful that this review is going to be done by the book. He said that normally the complainants would have been cc'd on the classification letter from the Chief Disciplinary Counsel's office outlining what issues Paxton will need to address in his response.
However, Rodriguez said they have not received that classification letter and they were told by the Chief Disciplinary Counsel's office that they wouldn't be receiving one.
"I'm not encouraged so far," he said, adding that he wants to believe this process is going to work.
Of course, Paxton is a Republican and the GOP dominates elective office in the state. Not to mention the fact that Paxton has received special treatment from the moment he was booked.