Platte City lawyer who used N-word about colleague was spared suspension | Opinion
The Missouri Supreme Court dropped the ball.
The state’s highest court had a chance to make a profound statement against racist behavior within the Missouri Bar Association but instead let Platte City defense attorney Scott Campbell escape meaningful repercussions for calling Platte County Assistant Prosecutor Lynnette Lockhart, a Black woman, the N-word.
In a ruling issued April 21, the state Supreme Court found Campbell guilty of professional misconduct for using a racial epithet (the N word) in reference to Lockhart. As a result, Campbell received a six-month suspension and fined $1,500. However, the high court stayed the suspension and placed Campbell on probation for six months, meaning he can still practice law while on probation.
Don’t get me wrong here: Campbell isn’t completely off the hook. According to stipulations of his probation, the defense attorney must walk a fine line for the next six months and stay clear of legal trouble and civil claims against him. He cannot run afoul of professional rules of conduct for attorneys, either. If he violates any conditions of the probation — and there are many — he could, in fact, face a suspension or worse.
Lockhart, an adjunct law professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City has almost two decades of experience practicing law and spent nearly a decade in the U.S. Army. In a statement sent to me, Lockhart said she respects the Missouri Supreme Court’s decision.
“My focus has always been on upholding the standards of this profession and making sure those standards are clear for lawyers of all backgrounds, and for my students who are preparing to enter this field,” Lockhart wrote.
After reading the ruling, I could only ask one question: How is this outcome even remotely fair? Any lawyer that uses such reprehensible language deserves the strongest punishment possible outside of losing their law license.
In this case, the state Supreme Court’s ruling deserves to be scrutinized — and this is not a personal attack on the judges who heard the case. I would hate to be accused of bad-mouthing the state’s highest court because of a ruling I didn’t agree with.
In Missouri, the state Supreme Court determines punishment for attorneys found guilty of professional conduct. Because of conflicts of interest, Kathleen Hamilton, a judge on the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, and Bryan E. Nickell, a judge on the Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District, were appointed special judges to replace cChief Justice W. Brent Powell and Supreme Court Judge Zel Fischer during oral arguments heard April 14, according to court records.
Powell was assistant prosecuting attorney in Platte County from 1997 to 2001, according to his bio and Fischer has been a member of the Platte County Bar Association, according to the Supreme Court’s website. Campbell has been licensed to practice law since 1990, according to the Missouri Bar’s website.
‘Isolated remark,’ ‘misguided overreaction’
Attorneys for Campbell and the Missouri Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel argued before Hamilton, Nickell and Robin Ransom, acting Supreme Court chief justice, court records indicate.
I reached out to Missouri Supreme Court spokeswoman Beth Riggert to get a better understanding of the ruling, but she declined to comment.
“I have no way of interpreting the court’s ruling,” Riggert said in a brief phone conversation.
But a case summary does provide a glimpse of how the high court came to its decision. In the ruling, Ransom cited previous decisions made by the court, American Bar Association standards for imposing lawyer discipline, and aggravating and mitigating circumstances in issuing the stay.
Messages sent to Campbell and his attorneys James Morrow and Connor DeWitt seeking comment were not returned. Court records indicate that Campbell was in good standing with the Missouri Bar and his conduct was an isolated incident, Morrow argued.
“In light of the uncontroverted relationship between Mr. Campbell and Ms. Lockhart, and the fact that the other attorney’s complaints about Ms. Lockhart were wholly inconsistent with Mr. Campbell’s own experiences with Ms. Lockhart, Mr. Campbell’s isolated remark can only be understood as a misguided overreaction to the complaining attorney, and without expressed discriminatory intent toward Ms. Lockhart,” Morrow wrote in court documents. “Mr. Campbell’s isolated, rhetorical remark was a lapse of judgment, and Mr. Campbell has admitted the ethical violation.”
Admitted to using racial slur
Lockhart first filed a complaint against Campbell almost two years ago after she learned from Platte County Prosecutor Eric Zahnd and first assistant prosecuting attorney Mark Gibson what Campbell had said about her.
In March 2024, Campbell was speaking with another attorney about his ability to get along with various Platte County assistant prosecutors.
“When the other attorney complained about his recent difficulty obtaining favorable plea offers from Ms. Lockhart, (Campbell) referred to Ms. Lockhart by using a racial slur, asking: “Is it because she is a (racial epithet)?” court documents state.
In a recent column, I detailed why Campbell should have been suspended. In disciplinary proceedings, he admitted he called Lockhart a racial slur.
“Anything less than a suspension for Campbell would be a slap in the face of every attorney licensed by the Missouri Bar to practice law in the state, no matter the color of their skin,” I wrote.
Zahnd, the Platte County prosecutor, said in a statement that he was proud of his office for its unwavering support of Lockhart after she filed her complaint, which I am sure as the only Black prosecutor in Platte County wasn’t an easy thing to do. No one should ever have to think twice about taking a stand against racism, though.
“I am consistently proud of everyone’s professionalism and how we all (not just Mark and me) supported Lynnette during this difficult situation,” Zahnd wrote in a staff email he shared with me. “Let’s continue to uphold justice without fear or favor and without regard to a victim’s, witness’s, defendant’s, or attorney’s race, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, or any other attribute.”
In her statement, Lockhart said she chose to address the matter through the appropriate channels “because that is what professionalism requires,” she wrote. “I respect the Missouri Supreme Court’s decision and the process.”
I respect the process, too. But it’s fair to question the state Supreme Court’s final decision to stay Campbell’s suspension.
