Posts on ‘July 10th, 2009’

Since Sarah Palin abruptly resigned as governor of Alaska, she has repeatedly cited the bombardment of ethics complaints against her while conceding the financial burden of defending herself had taken its toll. Palin says her family has racked up more than $500,000 in legal fees and the state has poured about $2 million of taxpayer money into investigating the complaints. But just how much of a financial burden has been inflicted on the Palins and Alaska?

When a former dean of the University of Illinois College of Law went before a state admissions commission Wednesday to answer ethical concerns about an alleged political clout list used to get some students into the law school, she said she fought those pressures “at every turn” but felt she had no choice other than to follow superiors’ orders to admit about 15 students from the list during her five-year term.

New Jersey state troopers with law degrees have lost their suit charging that an ethics-code provision that bans them from practicing law violates constitutional equal protection and due process guarantees. New Jersey federal Judge Freda Wolfson also rejected the notion that there was a property or liberty interest protected by due process. The troopers had argued that the ban was a de facto taking of their licenses.