Rob McKenna, Republican, is presently the Attorney General of Washington State. He is running for the governorship of the State of Washington against former congressman Jay Inslee. The suit, filed in King County Superior Court on 3 May 2012, is Melissa Mackey vs. Rob McKenna:
Ninety Women Sue McKenna for Breach of Ethics in Health Care Lawsuit
Posted by Goldy on Thu, May 3, 2012 at 10:00 AM
Ninety woman have filed a lawsuit in King County Superior Court this morning (Melissa Mackey vs. Rob McKenna) alleging multiple breaches of professional ethics by Attorney General Rob McKenna in his conduct of the lawsuit seeking to overturn the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The plaintiffs seek both declaratory and injunctive relief, declaring that McKenna is subject to and has violated Rules of Professional Conduct ... on multiple counts, and compelling McKenna to both file corrective pleadings before the US Supreme Court reversing his assertion that the individual mandate is not severable from the rest of the ACA, and...
Mr. McKenna presumes a great deal about what the interests of the citizens of Washington State are, most particularly what the interests of women of the State are:
The case in a nutshell is that McKenna, in his official capacity as the state's attorney, has repeatedly stated that it is in the interest of the state and its residents to only invalidate the individual mandate, leaving the rest of the ACA intact, while at the same time repeatedly submitting pleadings and filings on behalf of the state arguing the exact opposite. McKenna has publicly claimed that he was "overruled" by a "majority vote" of the other attorneys general, which this suit labels an "egregious violation of his ethical duties." Under the Rules of Professional Conduct McKenna is duty bound to his clients' interests, his client being the residents of Washington State (including the women named as plaintiffs in this case, many of whom will be denied lifesaving health care if the ACA is overturned), not 13 male attorneys general from other states who, according to the suit, have "no moral standing to decide the fate of women's health care."
The suit also accuses McKenna of breaching his duty to keep his client truthfully informed of the litigation. McKenna has publicly claimed that he couldn't file pleadings separate from the other attorneys general, when the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (Fed.R.Civ.P. 20) specifically empower him to do so. McKenna has posted statements to the attorney general's website saying he is not seeking to invalidate the entire ACA when in fact his pleadings and arguments have consistently asked the court to do exactly that. And according to the brief:
[McKenna] even told the public that the Obama administration agreed with his position in the U.S. Supreme Court, which is patently false. McKenna made these false statements as a lawyer, not as a politician, and they were subject to the highest standards of truthfulness.
According to Goldie: an attorney, in this case Rob McKenna, lying to his clients, in this case the women of Washington State whom he has sworn to serve as AG of this state, can be grounds for disbarment.
Most, if not all AGs, engaged in the lawsuits (from my limited skills in finding lawsuits, it looks like a plethora of lawsuits filed by numerous states and agencies) against Affordable Care are Republican. Given the cash-strapped sate of virtually all the states and their governments one wonders who is paying for this potentially very costly wave of legal proceedings, now before the United States Supreme Court.
The brave woman who has allowed her name to be used in this case, Melissa Mackey, is a cancer survivor:
Lead plaintiff Melissa Mackey, a 38-year-old survivor of breast cancer who went through a double mastectomy and 20 months of chemotherapy treatments, said that if there was a lifetime cap on coverage, she would have been unable to receive treatment.
“Cancer was not in my plans,” Mackey said. “I would not be alive right now if not for the Affordable Care Act.”
Asked whether the timing of the lawsuit was political—McKenna, of course, is running for governor against Democratic former Congressman Jay Inslee, and Lowney sued 2008 Republican gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi for allegedly colluding with the Building Industry Association of Washington—Mackey responded, “I don’t care who’s governor; I don’t care who’s attorney general. … I didn’t get cancer for political reasons, and I haven’t just done 20 months in treatment for a governor’s race.”
Ms. Mackey, thank you!