Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Free Speech, Lawyering, Media

California Attorney Facing Bar Complaint Over Proposed Measure To Allow For The Execution Of Gays And Lesbians

California flagAttorney Matt McLaughlin, an attorney in Huntington Beach, California, is facing a call for disbarment after he filed for a statewide resolution that would legalize the execution of gay people and make it a crime to support gay rights in the state. Anyone can file such papers and, for just $200, force the attorney general to prepare a title and a summary for the proposed new law. The question is whether this despicable act can or should be used for a bar action as conduct that shows that he is not of “good moral character.”

The 2016 initiative, named the “Sodomite Suppression Act”, is awaiting further review by the office of the state attorney general, Kamala Harris, and would mandate “any person who willingly touches another person of the same gender for purposes of sexual gratification be put to death by bullets to the head, or by any other convenient method.” It would also make it a crime to support gay rights, punishable by a $1 million fine and up to 10 years in prison (as well as expulsion from the state). It would also make it illegal to distribute “sodomistic propaganda” to “any person under the age of majority”. Furthermore, being a “sodomite” or distributing “sodomistic propaganda” would disqualify a resident from serving in public office or public employment and from enjoying any public benefit. McLaughlin stated in his proposal that it is “better that offenders should die rather than that all of us should be killed by God’s just wrath”. Suffice it to say, McLaughlin has some serious issues as well as a serious need for psychoanalysis.

However, what he did was the exercise of a legal action with the political system. There is an ironic twist to the notion of his claims of morality being used to establish that he is not of “good moral character.” We have faced this type of issue before. If an attorney does not engage in discriminatory or hateful treatment of clients or witnesses, should he be punished for his political or moral views? I tend to be leery of speech being the basis for criminal or bar sanctions because it is difficult to see where to draw the line. There are many attorneys who engage in political speech as individuals that is deemed insulting to different races or genders.

RicardoLaraState senator Ricardo Lara and others have filed a formal complaint with the state bar. It is not clear if any proceeding would bring up past controversies with McLaughlin, including his 2004 proposed initiative to add the King James Bible as a textbook in California public schools. Once again, such efforts are taken in his capacity as a citizen within the political system.

What do you think?

364 thoughts on “California Attorney Facing Bar Complaint Over Proposed Measure To Allow For The Execution Of Gays And Lesbians”

  1. @ Sqeaky Fromm Pom, Scourge of the Gayness

    “Ask yourself what some here would say if Uganda passed a law which penalized people caught selling of cigarettes with death by stoning. As Americans, we would all think the penalty is harsh. But, I bet there would also be a widespread calculation of how many lives were going to be saved by the new law. Because none of us are afraid to discuss the dangers of cigarette smoking.

    “But, when Uganda or some other country does the same thing with gays, either killing them or locking them up, nobody does the math and tries to figure how many lives would be saved. Why??? Because the gay lobby shuts up valid criticisms and most people are too chicken to risk saying anything.”

    I wouldn’t have thought it possible, but I now think I’ve been, as the Philosopher Prince would say, misunderestimating the depth and breadth of your capacity for mindless cruelty to human beings.

    You could write skits for Saturday Night Live, and Tina Fey could deliver your lines as Sarah Palin: ” Good mornin’ fellow Amuricans! Todd and I have done some calculations while sittin’ here on our front porch keepin’ an eye on Russia for ya, and we think that while this practice of stonin’ to death cigarette peddlers and gaysters in Uganda may seem a little harsh to some bleedin’-heart libruls, (eye roll), people prevented from dyin’ of lung cancer in 40 or 50 years or dead gaysters prevented from dyin’ of the gayness disease in 50 or 60 years (unless they take AIDS drugs which seems to speed it up quite a bit), or spreadin’ it into other people’s high-nees, there could actually be a net gain in number of people left alive and still able to serve as Monsanto farm chemical test subjects!

    “See, folks, that’s the difference between yur librul sentee-men-talty and conserv-ative clear thinkin’ and Can-Do!

    “OK, we gotta go shoot some wolves from our rented chopper, now, and the meter’s runnin’, but we’ll get back to ya the next time we’ve gotta another foreign-aid-straight-shootin’ plan of action ta share with ya!

  2. Annie
    It’s the proverbial nose, left fallen to the floor… “see, I showed ya face!”

  3. And a follow up from my home state…
    Judge Fines Washington Florist Over Same-Sex Wedding Flowers
    http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/judge-fines-washington-florist-sex-wedding-flowers-29964374

    A Washington state florist who refused to provide flowers for a same-sex wedding was fined $1,000 Friday, plus $1 for court costs and fees.

    Benton County Superior Judge Alexander Ekstrom’s ruling gives Barronelle Stutzman, owner of Arlene’s Flowers and Gifts in Richland, Washington, 60 days to pay the state for her refusal to serve Robert Ingersoll and Curt Freed when they sought to buy wedding flowers in 2013.
    (continued)

  4. LOL happypappies…
    I just got it!

    They’re attempting to outlaw my “sin” so as to protect their own “sins”…
    But this is never new for these people. Even Texas is trying to out do Ray Moore from Alabama… http://www.texastribune.org/2015/03/25/anti-gay-marriage-bill-met-concerns-committee/

    And get this… Texas used Ray Moore as the prop for the rally.
    http://www.advocate.com/politics/marriage-equality/2015/03/24/watch-alabamas-roy-moore-takes-stand-against-equality-texas

  6. happypappies
    I ask rhetorical questions in hopes that others will read and think about their “choices”…

  7. Max, Indiana will be feeling the blowback until this abomination of a law is repealed.

  11. Do any of you even get what this is all about or have you contemplated it at any length? Do you stay up at night trying to figure out the Paradox that was Jesus. He did not have to come here and sacrifice himself and be despised and rejected the way that some of us are. Others are so proud and rich and they get their rewards here as he said. And you don’t get it. 😉

  12. @Max-1

    Maybe this can be a new definition for homosexual panic!

    Oh noes! People who think we are gross won’t have to bake us wedding cakes anymore! Oh the humanity! People who think our marriages are sinful can ignore us! Oh, whatever will we do for fun when we can’t bully the Christians around anymore! Oh, our world! Our world!

    Look, you guys can always have one of your silly a$$ Gay Pride Parades to get some attention. I swear, you people are like a bunch of little 10 year old boys who burp and pass gas to get attention. Sheeesh, grow up. 20% of you idiots are ate up with HIV, and here you are worrying about some stupid wedding cakes. ROTFLMAO!

    Squeeky Fromm
    Girl Reporter

  13. Can any Heterosexuals live according to this tall order?

    Matthew 5

    Adultery
    …28 but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29″If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30″If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell.

  14. The camel is serving it’s master, faithfully. No matter the weight of the master’s riches, the camel goes thru…

  15. happypappies,
    Squeeky remended me of something… Did Jesus stand on the street corner telling the passer’s by that they are going to hell? Or did he gather them upon a mountain, feed them and told them HOW to get to the Kingdom? So, which should we occupy? The street corner or the mountain top?

  18. An Open Letter to States Considering Imposing Discrimination Laws
    http://officialblog.yelp.com/2015/03/an-open-letter-to-states-considering-imposing-discrimination-laws.html

    Posted by Jeremy, Yelp CEO

    A little over one year ago I wrote an open letter to then-Arizona Governor Jan Brewer requesting that she veto SB 1062, a bill that would have allowed businesses in the state to discriminate against consumers. Thankfully she did the right thing and vetoed that legislation, thus maintaining Arizona’s status as a hospitable place for Yelp’s employees to live and for our company to do business.

    Since that time, however, legislators in other states have sought to pass, or have enacted, laws that would allow for businesses to discriminate against consumers based on certain traits including sexual orientation. While Indiana is the most recent state to enact a law allowing for this kind of discrimination by businesses, unfortunately measures are being debated in other states across the country that would follow Indiana’s example. These laws set a terrible precedent that will likely harm the broader economic health of the states where they have been adopted, the businesses currently operating in those states and, most importantly, the consumers who could be victimized under these laws.

    Just as I said in my letter to Governor Brewer, it is unconscionable to imagine that Yelp would create, maintain, or expand a significant business presence in any state that encouraged discrimination by businesses against our employees, or consumers at large. I encourage states that are considering passing laws like the one rejected by Arizona or adopted by Indiana to reconsider and abandon these discriminatory actions. (We’re looking at you, Arkansas.)

    I hope that in the future the legislatures in the nineteen states that have these laws on the books will reconsider their actions. In the mean time, Yelp will make every effort to expand its corporate presence only in states that do not have these laws allowing for discrimination on the books.

    I also hope that other companies will draw a similar line in the sand for equality on behalf of their employees and the greater public to persuade legislators to do the right thing and stop or rescind these harmful laws.

    Sincerely,

    Jeremy Stoppelman

    CEO, Yelp

  19. http://www.sfmayor.org/index.aspx?recordid=815&page=846
    News Releases
    The latest news and announcements from Mayor Lee

    Mayor Lee’s Statement on Indiana’s Discriminatory Law Against LGBT Individuals
    Posted Date: 3/26/2015

    Mayor Edwin M. Lee today issued the following statement after Indiana Governor Mike Pence signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act into law that legalizes discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals:

    “We stand united as San Franciscans to condemn Indiana’s new discriminatory law, and will work together to protect the civil rights of all Americans including lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals.

    Effective immediately, I am directing City Departments under my authority to bar any publicly-funded City employee travel to the State of Indiana that is not absolutely essential to public health and safety. San Francisco taxpayers will not subsidize legally-sanctioned discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people by the State of Indiana.”

  20. @Max-1

    Gee, you live in such an all or nothing world. There is a lot of room between “Kill the Gays!” and “Celebrate Gayness!” Maybe we could all light on, “Hey, you gay dumba$$es! You’re killing your stupid selves! Cut it out! Pull your heads (and other bodily parts) out of your rear ends!”

    Squeeky Fromm
    Girl Reporter

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