HELENA, Mont. — The Montana Supreme Court says it would be unfair to release to the public the disciplinary records of a former Billings city attorney whose misconduct resulted in a public censure and license suspension.
In a unanimous Aug. 12 ruling, the justices said the lawyer's disciplinary records should not be made public for another reason: A legal challenge to the Supreme Court's rules on lawyer discipline by The Billings Gazette was not properly filed.
The justices upheld a ruling by a district judge, who said he did not have jurisdiction to decide the lawsuit involving rules written by the state Supreme Court.
"In the current rules, we have declared that certain procedures are confidential," said the eight-page opinion written by Justice Patricia Cotter. "The District Court does not have authority to issue a contrary ruling."
The case involves disciplinary action against Moira D'Alton, a former prosecutor for the city of Billings who now works as a public defender.
D'Alton admitted to acts of misconduct with the understanding that, under the Supreme Court rules, details of her misconduct would be kept confidential, the opinion states. The justices added that it would be unfair to D'Alton to release those details to the public.
"D'Alton was not put on notice that at some future time, under circumstances over which she had no control, her file could be open to the public," Cotter wrote for the court in Billings Gazette v. State of Montana. "To now issue such a ruling would be a violation of D'Alton's entitlement to due and fair process."
D'Alton was fired from her city job in 2004 and recently prevailed in a wrongful-termination lawsuit against the city.
The newspaper sought release of D'Alton's disciplinary records, arguing the public has a right to know the details of misconduct by a lawyer in public service that results in disciplinary action. Previous rulings by the state high court have established the public's right to know in such cases involving elected officials, police officers and teachers.