Legal Ethics, Racism

Attorney Doubles Down On Racist, Offensive Comments

Practice pointer: when engaged in the practice of law, don't be racist -- actually, don't be racist at all, but you've got to expect some repercussions when there is a record of your racism involved.

By  
on

Practice pointer: when engaged in the practice of law, don’t be racist — actually, don’t be racist at all, but you’ve got to expect some repercussions when there is a record of your racism involved.

This is a lesson that Louisville, Kentucky assistant county attorney Karl Price is learning firsthand. Price’s troubles first started in the course of his part-time private practice in a dispute with Hwang Martial Arts Academy. In a letter to the Hwangs’ lawyer, Price referred to the Hwang family as “greedy foreigners who simply did not understand simple contract relations” who were “relying on some ancient Asian principle” by not agreeing to a settlement.

Holy stereotypes, Batman! And wholly inaccurate to boot, as the Hwangs are American citizens. Not content to rest on this first instance of racism, Price doubled down, defending his letter in an interview with Insider Louisville:

“I do not think that that was derogatory,” said Price. “I thought that that was an appropriate reference to them, because I don’t know them to be American citizens… Some of those individuals (at Hwang’s) may be illegal aliens. I don’t know. My clients said that the individual they dealt with had some broken English. Now that doesn’t necessarily make them a foreigner, I understand that. But based on the information we had, no, I do not believe that that was insensitive to refer to them as that.”
…
“If I’ve offended anyone, I apologize,” said Price. “That was not my intent. I’m surprised that you send a lawyer a letter and all of a sudden it makes it to social media. But in any case, it is what it is.”

Yes, the internet is a thing, and she is a harsh mistress.

These comments got back to Price’s bosses at the Jefferson County Attorney’s office. Even though the comments were made in the course of Price’s private practice, his bosses determined that the comments still violated the County Attorney’s office’s conduct policy and discredited the office. Price was dealt with by… being ordered to attend sensitivity training.

Well, that was wholly anticlimactic.

Sponsored

The Courier-Journal thought so too, so yesterday they published an article detailing the racist, sexist, ableist, and otherwise insensitive comments that Price made over the last two months — on the record:

When a black defendant appeared who was caught running away from police, Price, who himself is African-American, said: “I thought you black guys could run, but you never get away from police.”

Stereotypes strike again!

During an arraignment April 20 of a black defendant who was arrested with a gun after fleeing from police on foot, Price said he was “lucky he didn’t get shot” because “it was a white police officer.”

And again.

Sponsored

On April 21 after Judge Holton told a defendant, a lesbian charged with assaulting her spouse, to have no contact with “the lady who this allegedly happened with,” Price said: “She didn’t say it was a lady. She said it was her wife.”

“Enough of that,” Holton snapped.

At least Price mixed it up in the offensive comments department:

The newspaper’s review also found that at an October 2013 arraignment of a defendant who said he was on disability, Judge Sandra McLaughin asked Price, “How come we’re working?” Price replied, “Because they won’t.”

The Courier-Journal went into the archives for that bon mot, but well worth it.

The cumulative effect of these comments was enough to garner more than a slap on the wrist. On the same day as the article detailing Price’s history came out, the Jefferson County Attorney’s Office suspended Price without pay pending an investigation.

It’s certainly comforting to know that when a history of inappropriate comments becomes public there is swift action taken, but all of the evidence suggests this isn’t new or unusual behavior for Price.

Jay Lambert, director of training for the Louisville public defender’s office, said Price has a “history of commenting on litigants’ national origin, race, sexual orientation and even physical disabilities” 

So the $100,000 question is, how’d Price get by for so long without previously being reprimanded?

Prosecutor suspended after C-J report on remarks [The Courier-Journal]
PROSECUTOR “DISCIPLINED” FOR CALLING ASIAN AMERICAN BUSINESS OWNERS “GREEDY FOREIGNERS” [Angry Asian Man]
County Attorney’s office reviewing prosecutor’s inflammatory letter [Insider Louisville]

Topics

, , , ,