Liberal Talk Radio

Should ex-cons be allowed to practice law? I believe, in principle, that people should be able to reform, but this seems extreme*:

A convicted killer, a prostitute, drug dealers and common thieves. Sound like a cell block on Rikers Island?

Try a meeting of members of the New York state bar.

Dozens of felons are working as lawyers throughout New York, gaining redemption working in the field that once judged them unfit for society, a Daily News investigation has found.

Richard Langone served 13 years in New York state prisons for the 1974 slaying of a Rosedale, Queens, teen, committed out of jealousy during a drug-fueled rage over a girl. Langone killed 17-year-old Peter Miller with three shots from a .38-caliber pistol.

In prison, he turned jailhouse lawyer, helped fellow inmates with their cases - and when he got out in 1990, he applied to be admitted to the bar. He was rejected three times, but was finally admitted last year, becoming the first convicted killer in state history to be admitted as a lawyer.

“What they are looking for is remorse,” says Langone of the state appeals court who allowed him to practice. “They want to see that you’re sorry. It’s part of the burden you bear when you commit a serious crime.”

*And I don’t know the answer, but I do know that other states do not allow ex-cons to practice law.