I Hope the LA Times Didn't Fabricate this Story

One of my favorite aspects of The Law is the inordinate amount of hair-pulling we undertake in order to persist in the noble illusion that one needs a certain amount of moral character to push paper around a desk, argue with people, and manage a glorified cash register.  No matter how oily the plaintiff's attorney, no matter how lazy the solo take-whatever-shows-up attorney, no matter how far that one prosecutor bends the truth, no matter how drunk high and stupid the rainmaker's son is, we can all rest assured that at one point in time, they had the right paperwork in order to make it past the arbiters of Good Character.

Stephen Glass does not have that clean past.  And instead of being addicted to crack (from which rehab is possible), Glass was addicted to ill-gained success, which he earned from writing bogus or embellished stories for magazines in an elaborate scheme.  This was, of course, fifteen years ago, when many now-lawyers were regularly concocting fraudulent schemes to illegally acquire alcohol and recklessly fornicate, but the publicity of Glass's actions gave him no hope of salvation.

Lay it on the schmuck, California Supreme Court:

The court said the greater the misconduct in the past, the more the lawyer applicant must demonstrate rehabilitation.  

"Instead of directing his efforts at serving others in the community, much of Glass' energy since the end of his journalistic career seems to have been directed at advancing his own career and financial and emotional well-being," the court said.

I always thought that rehabilitation was rehabilitation, regardless of how "great" the misconduct.  I'm happy the Court straightened me out on that one.  Similarly, I'm extremely happy the Court is chiding unethical dirtbags for trying to advance their career (Glass has shamelessly been working as a paralegal for a decade) and secure their emotional well-being.  Like lawyers need that!

These bastards should be out planting trees and coloring with school kids.  Otherwise, there's no way I can trust them with my landlord-tenant case.  Dude had a job and tried to heal his psychological issues?  Fuck him.

Thank you, California bar, for maintaining the integrity of your bar and rejecting the idea that someone with a public history of dishonesty could be admitted.  It only took several years, an initial hearing process, a ten-day appeal trial, and Supreme Court arguments to figure out that he never had a chance to begin with.  But God, the dance is fun, and provides me with firm faith in the system.

Also: it makes me myself feel really moral and exclusive.  If they let this guy in the neighborhood, I'd have to move to a new suburb.

And the best thing here is that Georgetown got to use his money and stats.  Thank God they never do these evaluations before the tuition downpayment so that people like Glass know what the hopeless abattoir facing in advance!