Fired over 'naughty boy' tweet about ex-AG's ethics case, court research lawyer is now on hot seat
A research lawyer who was fired over tweets she posted last year about the “naughty boy” former state attorney general during a Kansas Supreme Court hearing in his legal ethics case is now facing a disciplinary action of her own.
Sarah Peterson Herr also used foul language when she tweeted about former Attorney General Phill Kline, the Topeka Capital-Journal reports.
In a complaint filed Tuesday after a determination by a review committee that Herr should be pursued for violation of four legal ethics rules, a special prosecutor alleged that she violated prohibitions against conduct that adversely reflects on an attorney’s fitness to practice; stating or implying an ability to influence a government agency or official; conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice; and conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation.
Herr apologized after the November 2012 incident, the Topeka Capital-Journal reported at the time, saying that she hadn’t thought about the fact that her tweets would be accessible to the public rather than simply a few close friends.
A hearing is scheduled in December.
Kline, who is now a visiting professor at Liberty University in Virginia and had allowed his Kansas law license to lapse, has recently made moves to reinstate it as he awaits a Kansas Supreme Court ruling in his case, the Associated Press noted last month. His ethics case concerned claimed misrepresentations made by the then-AG and/or his subordinates in pursuing criminal cases against abortion providers.
See also:
ABAJournal.com: “Ex-Kansas AG Kline Tells Judges His Office ‘Endeavored Forthright’ in Abortion-Provider Probes”
ABAJournal.com: “Research Lawyer Is Fired for Tweeting About ‘Naughty Boy’ Ex-AG During Ethics Hearing”
