Absolutely unhinged: lawyer Mitchell Garabedian
The ethical rules governing lawyers in Massachusetts are crystal clear: Rule 8.4 of the Massachusetts Rules of Professional Conduct states that it is professional misconduct for an attorney to:
– engage in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation;
– engage in conduct that is prejudicial to the administration of justice; [and/or]
– engage in any other conduct that adversely reflects on his or her fitness
to practice law.
The American Bar Association (ABA) adds that it is professional misconduct should a lawyer "engage in conduct that the lawyer knows or reasonably should know is harassment or discrimination" on the basis of religion.
Thus, if the bar in Massachusetts actually gives a rip about upholding the remaining reputation and dignity of the legal profession in its state, it should do something about contingency lawyer Mitchell Garabedian, who appeared on Boston's WGBH Greater Boston program last week.
Morally and factually wrong
In yet another segment by the program on the issue of the many-decades-old cases of abuse in the Catholic Church – a segment that neither advanced the discussion in any way nor provided any new perspective – Garabedian made obscene statements that again revealed his deep-seated bigotry against the Catholic Church:
- Addressing the legal status of the Church as a charity, Garabedian thundered: "How is sexually molesting children a charitable purpose?"
- About Catholic bishops: "They're already portraying themselves as victims. That's their new line … The victims are not really clergy sexual abuse victims, according to them. The victims are the bishops. We're dealing with a corrupt criminal entity."
- "They're rotten to the core … You take away their religious garb, you take away their religion, they're a bunch of criminals who sexually abuse children or allowed children to be sexually abused."
- "They don't care about helping victims."
Keep in mind this was only a few months after Garabedian said on the very same program "they've been raping kids at a wholesale pace for centuries."
The bottom line is if such words had been said about any other group – whether it be Jewish people, Muslims, black people, or anyone else – the sanctions would be fast and furious. Garabedian's law license would already have been yanked.
It is high time that officials in Massachusetts finally hold Garabedian accountable for his public statements against the Catholic Church, which are not only false but also foment religious bigotry.
If holding a law license in Massachusetts means anything, it means that an individual should be held fully accountable for their public statements – especially those which are directed at religious groups and which manifest a clear religious bigotry and bias.
Here is the segment, if you can stomach it: