In Re Rose

The majority holds that this court need not hear argument or issue a written opinion when it suspends or revokes an attorney’s license to practice law. I disagree.

*461 Under the California Constitution, this court may not render a judgment unless it has given the parties a chance to argue their case to the members of this court. (Cal. Const., art. VI, § 2.) The state Constitution also requires that this court issue a written opinion giving reasons for any decision that determines a “cause[].” (Id., art. VI, § 14.) Unlike the majority, I conclude that because an order of this court suspending or disbarring an attorney is a judgment, and because such an order determines a cause, our Constitution requires that this court hear argument and issue a written opinion before entering an attorney suspension or disbarment order.

The majority’s decision here produces a startling anomaly: Attorneys are the only persons whose state occupational licenses can be revoked or suspended without a judicial hearing. When the right to continue practicing a trade or profession is at stake, only attorneys are denied their day in court. I would avoid this anomaly by recognizing that the state…

Reluctantly, even ambivalently, I dissent. They say hard cases make bad law; the result here, however, is foreordained: the majority reaches the only provident conclusion possible in the current circumstances. But it is also true that, underlying its reasoning and result, one has to wonder at the practical value of what this court does under the procedures now prevailing in bar discipline cases. As the court itself has acknowledged only recently, changes in our own rules made in the wake of legislative amendments to the administrative procedures governing bar discipline proceedings “relieve the court of the burden of intense scrutiny of all disciplinary recommendations.” (Cal. Supreme Ct., Invitation to Comment— Proposed Adoption of Rule 951.5, Cal. Rules of Court (Nov. 23, 1999) p. 2; see also Cal. Supreme Ct., Practices and Proc. (1997 rev.) pp. 3, 18-19, 25-26.) Moreover, the matrix of grantable issues identified in California Rules of Court, rule 954 1 appears to truncate the scope of our review. And in cases where no writ is sought, we usually content ourselves with less than that measure of “review.” Unless, by dint of skill or luck, the issues are framed so they are deemed…

The State Bar Court recommends that we disbar petitioner Mason Harry Rose V. Petitioner has sought review of that recommendation and contends we must issue a writ of review, hear oral argument, and render a written opinion before ordering the discipline as recommended. According to petitioner, our summary denial of his petition for review of the State Bar Court’s decision would be an unconstitutional attempt to invest the State Bar with judicial power, as well as a deprivation of his right to a judicial determination of whether he should be disciplined. Petitioner further contends that under the California Constitution he has a right to oral argument and a written opinion, and that the absence of these procedural safeguards violates the due process clause of the United States Constitution.

We conclude that this court may summarily deny an attorney’s petition for review of a State Bar Court decision recommending disbarment or suspension without violating constitutional principles. The State Bar Court exercises no judicial power, but rather makes recommendations to this court, which then undertakes an independent determination of the law and the facts, exercises its…

—I concur in the result.

I do so because I am of the view that the California Constitution’s grant to us of “plenary” power (In re Lacey (1938) 11 Cal.2d 699, 701 [ 81 P.2d 935 ]; see generally In re Attorney Discipline System (1998) 19 Cal.4th 582, 591-607 [ 79 Cal.Rptr.2d 836 , 967 P.2d 49 ]) to regulate attorneys (see Cal. Const., art. VI, §§ 1, 9) displaces any contrary restraint that the state charter would otherwise impose in its requirement that our “[d]ecisions . . . that determine causes shall be in writing with reasons stated” {id., art. VI, § 14).

The State Bar Court recommends that we disbar petitioner Mason Harry Rose V. Petitioner has sought review of that recommendation and contends we must issue a writ of review, hear oral argument, and render a written opinion before ordering the discipline as recommended. According to petitioner, our summary denial of his petition for review of the State Bar Court's decision would be an unconstitutional attempt to invest the State Bar with judicial power, as well as a deprivation of his right to a judicial determination of whether he should be disciplined. Petitioner further contends that under the California Constitution he has a right to oral argument and a written opinion, and that the absence of these procedural safeguards violates the due process clause of the United States Constitution. [1]

We conclude that this court may summarily deny an attorney's petition for review of a State Bar Court decision recommending disbarment or suspension without violating constitutional principles. The State Bar Court exercises no judicial power, but rather makes recommendations to this court, which then undertakes an independent determination of the law and the facts, exercises…