Lawyer Comments About Judges Not Protected Speech, Court Says

An Ohio lawyer was suspended for one year with six months stayed for unjustly attacking the integrity of judges who ruled against him in a real estate case, the state’s high court said.

John Alex Morton’s “unfounded attack against the judiciary warrants an actual suspension from the practice of law,” the Ohio Supreme Court said Tuesday.

When Morton appealed the valuation of his client’s property, he argued that the appeals court’s ‘political agenda’ motivated its ruling against his client, the disciplinary decision said. He also alleged the state high court deliberately delayed a decision on whether to hear his appeal.

At his disciplinary hearing, Morton alleged that his allegations were protected by the First Amendment.

Morton acted with “reckless disregard for the truth of his accusations” because he didn’t make any investigation before his “undignified and discourteous statements” about the judges, and thus isn’t protected by the First Amendment, the high court said.

The court agreed with its disciplinary board that Morton’s conduct violated ethics rules on engaging in conduct intended to disrupt a tribunal and prejudicial to the administration of justice.

Morton has no prior discipline, it said. He didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The case is Cleveland Metro. Bar Ass’n v. Morton, Ohio, No. 2021-Ohio-4095, 11/23/21.