Robert B. Shirley: Washington State Bar Association should not look the other way about Matt Shea

The Washington State Bar Association recently decided it would not discipline a lawyer who organized and led a mob to Priest River, Idaho, with members instructed to carry arms, in an effort to intimidate a government employee carrying out their duty consistent with the rule of law. It took the state bar more than four years to dismiss the grievance. In the process, the state bar inserted religion and politics into its decision-making.

The Priest River facts are simple: A lawyer wanted to stop the Veterans Administration from removing a firearm from a veteran diagnosed with dementia; VA laws and rules permitted it to remove firearms under that circumstance; the lawyer chose not to go to court in an attempt to use their abilities as a lawyer to prevent the removal, but instead began “Operation Armed Backyard.” The lawyer organized and led a mob, after asking many to arm themselves, to go to the home of the veteran to intimidate the employee whose lawful duty was to remove the firearm from one suffering dementia.

The lawyer is Matt Shea, who at the time of the Priest River confrontation was a member of the Washington House of Representatives. The House of Representatives commissioned the 2019 report that provides the basic facts of the Priest River confrontation. Though Shea is no longer a public official, he is still an attorney – but so far has been excused from allegations of violating rules of professional conduct.

Within weeks of the 2019 report, I filed the grievance alleging Shea acted with “disregard for the rule of law,” because under rules of the Washington Supreme Court, the state bar can discipline lawyers who act with disregard for the rule of law. I’ve never met Shea, and have no political, business or personal connections to him. I was a lawyer who just thought it was wrong for another in my profession to act apparently in disregard for the rule of law by using intimidation and still keep his bar license.

The state bar written dismissal injected religion into the matter. It included as a relevant fact that Shea is now a pastor. The state bar did not explain the purpose or value for inserting Shea’s religious employment into its decision-making. It also inserted politics into its grievance decision-making. It quoted Shea’s assertion that the grievance was political as a relevant fact but did not explain the purpose for including the mere assertion of political motives as a relevant fact.

Shea was not prosecuted or convicted of a crime for intimidation during Operation Armed Backyard. Most attorney discipline is imposed without a requirement for a conviction. In support of dismissal, however, the state bar cited a 1990 Washington Supreme Court case it contends requires a criminal conviction before the bar can discipline a lawyer for acting with disregard for the rule of law. Disingenuously, the bar did not state in the dismissal that as recently as 2012 the bar sought to have the Supreme Court overturn that conviction requirement (on procedural grounds, and not on the merits, the court declined to address the conviction requirement).

The last time the state bar took a position at the Supreme Court on whether a conviction should be required before imposition of discipline for actions in disregard for the rule of law, its position was opposite of the position taken to support the recent grievance dismissal. The bar will soon review the initial dismissal and determine if the dismissal should stand or be reversed, and discipline imposed. In that review, the state bar should revert to its last position before the Supreme Court and impose discipline without an antecedent conviction because the actions taken during Operation Armed Backyard are very serious.

The Washington Supreme Court oversees the Washington State Bar Association. When the bar imposes discipline, the case can be appealed by the lawyer to the Supreme Court without going to other courts first. If discipline is imposed, Shea can have his day in court, unlike the VA employee who had to fear mob intimidation.

Robert B. Shirley is a retired attorney living in Olympia. He graduated from the Seattle University School of Law in 1995.