Lawyer is reprimanded for lifting quotes from Supreme Court justices on her judicial application
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An Arizona lawyer has been reprimanded for lifting quotes from U.S. Supreme Court justices on her application for a seat on the state’s court of appeals.
Lawyer Kristina Reeves consented to the reprimand, according to the Dec. 31 order and opinion noted by the Legal Profession Blog.
Reeves withdrew her 2019 application after news stories reported that she lifted lines from confirmation hearing remarks by Justices Neil M. Gorsuch and Samuel A. Alito Jr. without attribution to the source.
Among the lifted passages:
• Reeves wrote, “Putting on a robe should remind a judge that it’s time to lose her ego and open her mind.” Gorsuch said, “Putting on a robe reminds us that it’s time to lose our egos and open our minds.”
• Reeves wrote, “A legal case isn’t just some number or a name; it is a person, it is a life story.” Gorsuch said, “A legal case isn’t just some number or a name but a life story.”
• Reeves wrote and Alito said that good judges are “always open to the possibility of changing their minds based on the next brief that they read, or the next argument that is made by an attorney who is appearing before them, or a comment that is made by a colleague … .”
The reprimand decision noted several mitigating factors. Among them: Reeves had no prior record of discipline, numerous letters attested to her good character, and she displayed a cooperative attitude during ethics proceedings.
According to Reeves’ online bio, she is a graduate of the University of Chicago Law School. After graduation, she was a JAG lawyer who was chief of staff to the general counsel of the Department of Defense. She also spent three years with the Arizona attorney general’s office litigating capital cases.
Reeves did not immediately respond to a message left with her law firm’s answering service by the ABA Journal.
See also:
ABAJournal.com: “Appeals court applicant lifts quotes from two Supreme Court justices’ confirmation hearings”
