This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2005, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
State Sen. Scott McCoy's recent proposal to repeal an unconstitutional criminal libel law conjures memories of another old fighter of arcane laws never repealed by the Legislature.
And, in this battler's case, it is a reminder of how certain powers in the state don't like rabble-rousers.
Salt Lake City attorney Brian Barnard used to sift through state and local statutes passed decades earlier and since declared unconstitutional, then find a plaintiff to fight them in court.
The laws were normally declared unconstitutional through agreement with government lawyers and the court. Barnard then would be paid attorney fees by the state.
But former Attorney General David Wilkinson disliked the idea of paying Barnard attorney fees, so for a time during his 1980s tenure, he would fight the claim of unconstitutionality. That would require Barnard to file more briefs, adding hours to his work and eventually giving him a fatter paycheck when the attorney's fees came due.
One time, however, Wilkinson was so late in approving Barnard's attorney fees that the civil rights attorney persuaded a judge to garnishee Wilkinson's state salary to satisfy the payment. Wilkinson approved the payment right away.
Barnard also filed suits decades ago to change a Utah State Bar rule forbidding advertising by attorneys. Now, lawyer advertising is common. He also sued the Bar in federal court in 1984 to change an ethics rule that prohibited the use of a trade name for a law firm. Until Barnard, who wanted to call his firm the Utah Legal Clinic, prevailed in that case, law offices had to use attorneys' names to identify their firm. Barnard received about $10,000 in attorney fees in that case.
So it was comical when last year the Office of Professional Conduct, the disciplinary counsel of the Utah State Bar, filed an ethics complaint against Barnard for using the name Utah Legal Clinic. The morality police claimed the firm's name implied it had a connection with a government agency.
Barnard argued that no one thinks the Utah Jazz or Salt Lake Auto Body are affiliated with the government, so the complaint against him was frivolous.
After a year of haggling, the complaint against Barnard was finally dropped, since the Bar had known for 20 years about the name.
The mouths of babes: When Ballet West invited special education elementary school students to view a dress rehearsal for "The Nutcracker" earlier this week, one student's comment was a reminder how television and film, for better or worse, has replaced live performance arts as our cultural base.
When the Mouse King was killed in battle, fell on his back and stuck his legs straight in the air to dramatize his violent death, one young student gasped: "Whoa! What do you think this is rated? It's got to be an R."
Democratic Google hacker? If you go to Google, type in the word "failure" on the search line, then click onto the box that says "I'm feeling lucky," you get the official White House biography of President George W. Bush.