Lawyers have a separate set of rules and laws for them
Connecticut
State Attorney Pays Fine In Ethics Case
Associated Press
11:40 AM EST, January 21, 2009
A Connecticut state government lawyer has agreed to pay a $1,000 fine for posing as an anonymous whistleblower in a letter that played a role in her boss' firing.
The Office of State Ethics says Maureen Duggan, former attorney with the old State Ethics Commission, failed to conduct herself "in a manner which promotes the integrity and impartiality" of the commission.
Duggan has admitted she wrote a 2004 letter pretending to be an anonymous parking lot attendant, raising misconduct concerns about then-state Ethics Director Alan Plofsky. She says she feared retaliation.
Plofsky was later fired. He denied all charges and appealed to a state panel that reinstated him, but not to his old job. He retired in May 2008.
Duggan now works for the Department of Children and Families.
AP-ES-01-21-09 1137EST
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The above lawyer is paid 6 figures in a taxpayer paid salary. She should at least be able to tell the truth, not manufacture evidence and commit felonies as a public servant. It is an abomination that she is only fined $1000!
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MAUREEN DUGGAN, right, addresses the committee reviewing misconduct charges against her related to a fraudulent letter she wrote in 2004 while a staff lawyer with the State Ethics Commission. The letter led to the firing of ethics chief Alan S. Plofsky. Her lawyer, Hope Seeley, is at left. (BOB MACDONNELL / HARTFORD COURANT / November 5, 2008)
Ethics Case
State Agency Lawyer Apologizes For Faking Identity
By JON LENDER | The Hartford Courant
November 7, 2008
A state agency lawyer apologized Thursday for posing as a parking lot attendant in a letter in 2004 that led to the firing of state ethics chief Alan S. Plofsky, a deed she said was "out of character for me."
"I ... humbly apologize," Maureen Duggan told a three-member committee in Hartford reviewing misconduct charges of "fraud and conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice."
The committee, a sub-unit of the Statewide Grievance Committee for lawyers, has 60 days from Thursday's hearing to approve or reject a settlement under which Duggan would accept a reprimand and take nine hours of ethics classes.
Duggan, a $105,000-a-year attorney at the state Department of Children and Families, must keep her law license to keep her state job. The reprimand, proposed by chief disciplinary counsel Mark A. Dubois, would preserve the license and avert disbarment or suspension.
Duggan's lawyer, Hope Seeley, asked the panel to approve the proposal, saying she has never had a client "more remorseful ... or more publicly humiliated." Seeley and two witnesses said Duggan is honest, diligent, kind and a "Super Mom."
Duggan said the experience has been "extremely humiliating, embarrassing and humbling."
The Courant disclosed May 18 that Duggan had written the letter in August 2004, when she was a staff lawyer for the State Ethics Commission working for Plofsky. In the intentionally misspelled missive, Duggan claimed to be a parking lot attendant and alleged irregularities at the ethics agency's office but wrote, "I want to be anonimus."
A week after ethics commission members received the letter in 2004, Duggan and two co-workers filed sworn "whistle-blower" complaints alleging misconduct by Plofsky. He was fired the following month based on those complaints, including claims he ordered a tape destroyed and improperly ran up compensatory time.
In her sworn complaint, Duggan referred to her own letter as "an anonymous letter" as if someone else had written it. Thursday's panel members — lawyers Shari Bronstein of Southington and David Channing of Rockville, and non-lawyer John Walsh of West Hartford — asked no questions about that aspect.
Walsh did ask why Duggan hadn't immediately availed herself of "whistle-blower" protections — as she and her two co-workers ultimately did — instead of first writing the letter under the false identity. Seeley said Duggan "was pushed to desperation and her judgment was impaired."
Plofsky denied all charges and appealed to a state panel that reinstated him, but not to his old job. He retired in May.
Seeley argued that issues raised in the "anonimus" letter were found valid by auditors, and Duggan "felt she had no viable alternatives" to hiding behind a made-up character: "She feared retaliation by Plofsky; she was ... concerned about her ability to support her family if she were fired, as her then-husband was not working at the time."
Her ex-husband, lawyer Steven Regula, had a shorter hearing Thursday on misconduct charges related to Duggan's testimony that he mailed the letter to ethics commission members. Dubois recommended dropping the charges because of a "marital privilege" barring her from testifying against him. His lawyer, Richard Brown, said Regula never read the letter. A decision is due in 60 days.
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My Comment posted to the above on Topix:
This is how attorneys in Connecticut act everyday, on and off the taxpayer payroll.
Police, Judge, prosecutors, and too many "working" for taxpayer dollars are getting away with Maureen Duggan behavior everyday.
A post that says it all highlighting Connecticut State Trooper recruits called, "Young, Armed, Dangerous, Horny":
http://thegetjusticecoalition.blogspot.com/20...
What passes for public service in Connecticut is beyond ridiculous
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Is the "DCF Specialist" Michael H. Agranoff the worst, most corrupt, and most incompetent lawyer in Connecticut?
[click here] for information on Stafford Springs and Ellington, CT, area Attorney Michael H. Agranoff
Is Connecticut Attorney General too busy having his toenails painted or giving his former law partners millions in no bid contracts to do anything about scheister lawyers? [pic and post on Blumenthal and toenail painting]
My still unaswered complaint to Connecticut Attorney General Richard "Dick" Blumenthal [click here]
This blogger's email: stevengerickson@yahoo.com
Blogger's "Fair Use" of copyrighted materials notice [click here]
State Attorney Pays Fine In Ethics Case
Associated Press
11:40 AM EST, January 21, 2009
A Connecticut state government lawyer has agreed to pay a $1,000 fine for posing as an anonymous whistleblower in a letter that played a role in her boss' firing.
The Office of State Ethics says Maureen Duggan, former attorney with the old State Ethics Commission, failed to conduct herself "in a manner which promotes the integrity and impartiality" of the commission.
Duggan has admitted she wrote a 2004 letter pretending to be an anonymous parking lot attendant, raising misconduct concerns about then-state Ethics Director Alan Plofsky. She says she feared retaliation.
Plofsky was later fired. He denied all charges and appealed to a state panel that reinstated him, but not to his old job. He retired in May 2008.
Duggan now works for the Department of Children and Families.
AP-ES-01-21-09 1137EST
* * * *
* * * *
The above lawyer is paid 6 figures in a taxpayer paid salary. She should at least be able to tell the truth, not manufacture evidence and commit felonies as a public servant. It is an abomination that she is only fined $1000!
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What about arrests and prison for behavior like this?:
Attorney, prosecutorial, judicial, official, and police misconduct is an "art form" in the state of Connecticut and too many other states. There are two classes of people. Those that get taxed, arrested, and live in a "State of Fear" and there are those who run the "State of Fear" with immunity from arrest and prosecution, what US Constitution?
MAUREEN DUGGAN, right, addresses the committee reviewing misconduct charges against her related to a fraudulent letter she wrote in 2004 while a staff lawyer with the State Ethics Commission. The letter led to the firing of ethics chief Alan S. Plofsky. Her lawyer, Hope Seeley, is at left. (BOB MACDONNELL / HARTFORD COURANT / November 5, 2008)
Ethics Case
State Agency Lawyer Apologizes For Faking Identity
By JON LENDER | The Hartford Courant
November 7, 2008
A state agency lawyer apologized Thursday for posing as a parking lot attendant in a letter in 2004 that led to the firing of state ethics chief Alan S. Plofsky, a deed she said was "out of character for me."
"I ... humbly apologize," Maureen Duggan told a three-member committee in Hartford reviewing misconduct charges of "fraud and conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice."
The committee, a sub-unit of the Statewide Grievance Committee for lawyers, has 60 days from Thursday's hearing to approve or reject a settlement under which Duggan would accept a reprimand and take nine hours of ethics classes.
Duggan, a $105,000-a-year attorney at the state Department of Children and Families, must keep her law license to keep her state job. The reprimand, proposed by chief disciplinary counsel Mark A. Dubois, would preserve the license and avert disbarment or suspension.
Duggan's lawyer, Hope Seeley, asked the panel to approve the proposal, saying she has never had a client "more remorseful ... or more publicly humiliated." Seeley and two witnesses said Duggan is honest, diligent, kind and a "Super Mom."
Duggan said the experience has been "extremely humiliating, embarrassing and humbling."
The Courant disclosed May 18 that Duggan had written the letter in August 2004, when she was a staff lawyer for the State Ethics Commission working for Plofsky. In the intentionally misspelled missive, Duggan claimed to be a parking lot attendant and alleged irregularities at the ethics agency's office but wrote, "I want to be anonimus."
A week after ethics commission members received the letter in 2004, Duggan and two co-workers filed sworn "whistle-blower" complaints alleging misconduct by Plofsky. He was fired the following month based on those complaints, including claims he ordered a tape destroyed and improperly ran up compensatory time.
In her sworn complaint, Duggan referred to her own letter as "an anonymous letter" as if someone else had written it. Thursday's panel members — lawyers Shari Bronstein of Southington and David Channing of Rockville, and non-lawyer John Walsh of West Hartford — asked no questions about that aspect.
Walsh did ask why Duggan hadn't immediately availed herself of "whistle-blower" protections — as she and her two co-workers ultimately did — instead of first writing the letter under the false identity. Seeley said Duggan "was pushed to desperation and her judgment was impaired."
Plofsky denied all charges and appealed to a state panel that reinstated him, but not to his old job. He retired in May.
Seeley argued that issues raised in the "anonimus" letter were found valid by auditors, and Duggan "felt she had no viable alternatives" to hiding behind a made-up character: "She feared retaliation by Plofsky; she was ... concerned about her ability to support her family if she were fired, as her then-husband was not working at the time."
Her ex-husband, lawyer Steven Regula, had a shorter hearing Thursday on misconduct charges related to Duggan's testimony that he mailed the letter to ethics commission members. Dubois recommended dropping the charges because of a "marital privilege" barring her from testifying against him. His lawyer, Richard Brown, said Regula never read the letter. A decision is due in 60 days.
* * * *
* * * *
My Comment posted to the above on Topix:
This is how attorneys in Connecticut act everyday, on and off the taxpayer payroll.
Police, Judge, prosecutors, and too many "working" for taxpayer dollars are getting away with Maureen Duggan behavior everyday.
A post that says it all highlighting Connecticut State Trooper recruits called, "Young, Armed, Dangerous, Horny":
http://thegetjusticecoalition.blogspot.com/20...
What passes for public service in Connecticut is beyond ridiculous
* * * *
Is the "DCF Specialist" Michael H. Agranoff the worst, most corrupt, and most incompetent lawyer in Connecticut?
[click here] for information on Stafford Springs and Ellington, CT, area Attorney Michael H. Agranoff
Is Connecticut Attorney General too busy having his toenails painted or giving his former law partners millions in no bid contracts to do anything about scheister lawyers? [pic and post on Blumenthal and toenail painting]
My still unaswered complaint to Connecticut Attorney General Richard "Dick" Blumenthal [click here]
This blogger's email: stevengerickson@yahoo.com
Blogger's "Fair Use" of copyrighted materials notice [click here]
posted by The Stark Raving Viking at 1/21/2009 03:52:00 PM
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