The News in Brief column on Oct. 13 contained an article on the application of John Kennedy O’Hara for reinstatement to the bar after a disbarment based on a felony conviction for Election Law violations. A part of that article was devoted to certain comments made in the report of a subcommittee of the Committee on Character and Fitness to the full committee in which the subcommittee members expressed their views as to the merits of the underlying conviction.
New York Judiciary Law §90(10) makes all the papers on an application for admission to the bar, and for reinstatement, sealed, private and confidential. The fact that the contents of the subcommittee report were the subject of a newspaper article has naturally raised questions as to how it became a matter of public knowledge. It was not leaked by public employees or members of the Committee on Character and Fitness. Rather, pursuant to the Court of Appeals decision in Matter of Citrin, (94 NY2d 459), Mr. O’Hara requested and received a copy of the subcommittee’s report and as the article indicates, it was he who released it to the press. Since the confidentiality of such papers is for the benefit of the applicant, Mr. O’Hara was entitled to waive the protection of the statute.
