Law Grad’s Snarky, Smiley-Face Note Not a Bar to Law License, Ga. High Court Rules
A law graduate who sent a snarky note to a court clerk and offered an unusual defense in a traffic appeal is eligible to become a lawyer in Georgia, the state supreme court has ruled.
Marilyn Ringstaff, a 2006 graduate of John Marshall Law School, had to pay a $250 fine for her role in a minor traffic accident, the National Law Journal (sub. req.) reports. She represented herself in court when she was a 1L, and argued on appeal that her own representation was ineffective.
When Ringstaff paid the fine, she included a note with two smiley faces, according to the opinion. The note read: “Keep the change—put into a police/judicial education fund. I can certainly say this has been an educational experience. I am now a second-year law student and can honestly relate to what a crooked and inequitable system of ‘justice’ we have.”
The Board to Determine Fitness of Bar Applicants had recommended Ringstaff should not be allowed to take the bar exam. It cited the note and the defense, along with comments Ringstaff made during an informal board interview that “every police officer lies.”
The Georgia Supreme Court rejected the board’s conclusions after examining the transcript of the informal meeting. The transcript reflects there is no evidence to support the board’s conclusions, the supreme court opinion said.
Ringstaff had told the board she was acquainted with the court clerk and considered the smiley face note to be “more of an off-the-record note to her.” Her comments about lying police officers were also nuanced; she had told the board she drew her conclusions about an inequitable justice system after reading the writing of law professor Alan Dershowitz, who had written that every police officer lies. She also said that her law school professionalism courses had taught her that the note would be inappropriate if written by a lawyer.
