Racist lawyer seeks to reinstate case
By The Associated Press
10.31.02
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CHICAGO — White supremacist Matt Hale asked a federal appeals court yesterday to reinstate a lawsuit he filed after he was denied an Illinois law license because of his racist beliefs.
The Illinois Supreme Court, the U.S. Supreme Court and a federal judge have all refused to hear Hale's case, in which he contends his constitutional rights were violated when he was denied the license.
Now Hale is asking the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn a decision last March by the federal judge in the case, U.S. District Judge John Darrah, to dismiss Hale's suit.
Hale, who lives in East Peoria and leads the segregationist World Church of the Creator, argues his claim has never been heard.
"The law is overwhelmingly on our side in this case," Hale said after yesterday's hearing, at which he was represented by New York civil rights attorney Glenn Greenwald. "The idea that somehow the Illinois Supreme Court heard my case by refusing to hear it just doesn't make much sense."
Hale's lawsuit names the Illinois Supreme Court, that court's Committee on Character and Fitness and the Board of Admissions to the Bar. The Committee on Character and Fitness denied his law application in 1998.
Hale, 31, graduated from law school and has passed the Illinois State Bar examination.
One of the three judges who heard Hale's appeal appeared to sympathize with his situation. Judge Diane Wood said there was a "disturbing lack of transparency" in the handling of his case.
"Today it's Mr. Hale, tomorrow it could be a member of some fringe Islamic group" denied a law license based on his beliefs and then unable to have his case heard in court, Wood said.
Lawyers for the state Supreme Court and the state court's fitness committee argued that Hale had his day in court when the committee held a public hearing on his case at which he was allowed to call witnesses.
The 7th Circuit didn't indicate when it would rule on the matter.
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