SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The California Supreme Court denied a law license on Monday to a former journalist who was caught fabricating stories for major national magazines.
The court ruled that Stephen Glass had insufficiently rehabilitated himself in the years since his misdeeds.
“Many of his efforts from the time of his exposure in 1998 until the 2010 hearing, however, seem to have been directed primarily at advancing his own well-being rather than returning something to the community,” the court wrote in the unsigned ruling.
Jon Eisenberg, a lawyer for Glass, said his client “appreciates the court’s consideration of his application and respects the court’s decision.”
Glass’s ethical missteps at The New Republic and other magazines were recounted in the film “ShatteredGlass” and an autobiographical novel.
Glass applied to practice law in California after passing the state’s bar exam in 2007. But State Bar officials have been grappling with his application since, finally appealing to the California Supreme Court to decide.
A committee of state bar lawyers initially rejected Glass’ application, saying he had not done enough to be trusted to practice law. Lawyers representing the committee told the Supreme Court that Glass “has done little, if anything, to repair the damage he has done.”
The State Bar admission committee that initially rejected his application found it irksome that Glass earned $140,000 from the sales of his book of fiction loosely based on his life called “The Fabulist.” The admission committee argued that Glass should have used the proceeds to actively further his rehabilitation in some other way than simply pocketing them.
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