| ► Toledo Blade – 08/23/01 – State lawyer panel strikes ethics beef |
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Toledo Blade – Aug. 23, 2001 – State lawyer panel strikes ethics beef State lawyer panel strikes ethics beef
BY JAMES DREW
Columbus Bureau Chief
An Ohio State Bar Association committee has dismissed ethics complaints made by a judicial critic against two local judges for collecting pensions while keeping their jobs on the bench.
The complaints stem from a so-called "double-dipping" practice made possible last year by a loophole in a state law that allowed elected officials to retire briefly, then return to their jobs to collect a salary and their pension. Judges James Bates and Charles Doneghy of Lucas County Common Pleas Court and Judge Peter Handwork of the 6th District Court of Appeals were among dozens of elected officials who took advantage of the loophole.
David Palmer, a former Toledo-area resident who lives in Powell, Ohio, filed the complaints with the state bar association's legal ethics and professional conduct committee against Judge Doneghy and Judge Handwork. Mr. Palmer did not file a complaint about Judge Bates.
Mr. Palmer runs a web site called "The Committee to Expose Dishonest and Incompetent Attorneys and Judges." He is facing investigation by the Ohio Supreme Court's disciplinary counsel for allegedly practicing law without a license.
A state law designed to make it easier for retired teachers to return to work also allowed for elected officials who had the right combination of age and years of service to wait two months instead of the previous six months before drawing a pension if they continued to work.
Since then, a new law has closed the loophole that allowed the judges and other elected officials to retire briefly and then return to their jobs. In addition to the judges, Lucas County Sheriff James Telb and county Commission Bill Copeland used the loophole to retire and go back to work.
Eugene Whetzel, general counsel for the state bar association, in a letter to Mr. Palmer, said the judges did not break any laws or violate the association's code of judicial conduct.
"Had the General Assembly intended to restrict application of the waiver from the 'double-dipping' rules to educators only, it could and should have done so. Clearly, it knew how to do so since it later amended the law to prohibit this type of conduct," Mr. Whetzel said.
Mr. Palmer said he filed the complaint in March with the Ohio Supreme Court's disciplinary counsel. The issue was sent to the state bar association because of a possible conflict of interest because of the investigation of Mr. Palmer by the court's disciplinary counsel. He said yesterday he plans to appeal the committee's ruling to the Ohio Supreme Court's grievances and Discipline Commission.
Judge Doneghy, who was re-elected in November but did not take any time off from work, said he received the committee's decision last week. He said he had thoroughly reviewed the legal aspects of the retirement issue when he applied for his pension. "I feel it was the appropriate thing to do," he said.
"I think (the committee's decision) speaks for itself-that there was nothing wrong and nothing inappropriate about the conduct of any judge who took this course of action," said Judge Handwork, who took a 60-day leave from office after he was re-elected in November.
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