Sex offender looks to gain admission to Kentucky bar

Guy Padraic Hamilton-Smith graduated in the top third of his law school class at the University of Kentucky, but the state Supreme Court blocked him from taking the bar exam because he is a registered sex offender.

In the first case of its kind in Kentucky, the court rejected Hamilton-Smith's bid and a move by the state Office of Bar Admissions to create and endorse a blanket rule that would have kept all registered sex offenders from gaining access to the bar.

"Rather, we believe the better course would be to allow any applicant for bar admission who is on the sex offender registry the opportunity to make his or her case on an individualized basis," Chief Justice John D. Minton wrote in the Dec. 19 opinion on Hamilton-Smith's case and the proposed rule.

Hamilton-Smith, who was convicted of a charge related to child pornography in 2007, has until Jan. 13 to ask the court to reconsider its decision. In an email, Hamilton-Smith referred Associated Press questions to his attorney, who said the reconsideration request will be filed.

Nationally, cases of felons seeking admission or re-admission to the bar are common. But situations of registered sex offenders attempting to do so appear to be rare. Beyond a recent rejection in Ohio and an ongoing case in Virginia, legal experts and those who work to rehabilitate sex offenders couldn't recall a similar situation arising in recent years.

But Shelley Stow of Reform Sex Offender Laws — a Massachusetts-based organization that seeks to ease restrictions on offenders and promote rehabilitation — said she wouldn't be surprised to see more cases out there. "It is so difficult for registrants to even get jobs and support themselves and function day to day, let alone pursue a law career," she said.

The Kentucky case brings up the question of how to treat someone who has admitted to criminal activity, wants to rehabilitate himself and serve others, but is still monitored by law enforcement, said Hamilton-Smith's attorney, Scott White, of Lexington.

"It's a highly stigmatized thing," White said.

Hamilton-Smith pleaded guilty to a charge of possession of matter portraying a sexual performance by a child in March 2007. He received a five-year prison sentence, which was suspended, and was required to register as a sex offender for 20 years — until 2027.

After disclosing the conviction and sex offender status on his applications, Chase Law School at Northern Kentucky University and Brandeis Law School at the University of Louisville both rejected him in 2008. But the University of Kentucky College of Law accepted him in 2008 and he graduated in 2011.

Hamilton-Smith later competed on the National Trial Team and National Moot Court Team, and he had a piece published in the Berkeley La Raza Law Journal through the University of California law school.

Since graduating in 2011, Hamilton-Smith has held a non-lawyer position for Baldani, Rowland and Richardson. The Lexington firm has filed letters in support of Hamilton-Smith taking the bar exam, White said. But Hamilton-Smith still has not been cleared by the Kentucky Office of Bar Admissions to take the exam that would allow him to practice law.

White called Hamilton-Smith "a classic sex addict."

"The classic example is somebody who just downloads buckets of pornography," White said. "In that download, there just happened to be child pornography."

In this case, Hamilton-Smith has gone through Sex Addicts Anonymous, despite a few admitted relapses with adult, but not child, pornography, White said.

White also said his client used law school as a redemptive and rehabilitative effort while owning up to his criminal conduct.

"He just hasn't let it define him," White said.

Elizabeth Feamster, director and general counsel for the Kentucky Office of Bar Admissions, did not return phone and email messages seeking comment from AP. But in court filings, Feamster cited the seriousness of the charge as well as Hamilton-Smith's acknowledgement of sexual addiction and "destructive and harmful behaviors when it comes to sex and sexuality." Also, law school students are warned early in their legal education that behavioral issues could exclude them from being admitted to the bar, Feamster wrote.

Hamilton-Smith "was aware that he might be allowed into this profession," Feamster wrote.

For the justices, the nature of the crime defines someone lacking in the "requisite character and fitness" to be admitted to the bar.

"Indeed, our certification could significantly mislead the public into believing that we vouch for (Hamilton-Smith's) good character," Minton wrote. "Consequently, a client's subsequent discovery of the registry listing could then justifiably lead him to question the value of this court's certification of the good character of those who are permitted to take the bar examination."