New York — Former Arizona legislator, Don Shooter, has hired two prominent due process attorneys, Andrew Miltenberg and Stuart Bernstein, to represent him in his case against the Arizona Legislature.
Miltenberg and Bernstein specialize in civil rights violations, often on behalf of students and faculty expelled from universities following allegations of sexual misconduct, according to the lawyers’ announcement of their participation in Shooter’s case.
“Due Process is critical because expulsion from the Legislature deprives voters of their chosen representative,” said the attorneys in their announcement. “The Arizona Legislature trampled on Don Shooter’s 4th, 5th and 14th Amendment rights and usurped those of his constituents without affording Mr. Shooter any due process, an impartial investigation or a fair hearing.”
“Due process is essential because expulsion from the Legislature not only deprives voters representation by their chosen representative, when a member is expelled based on allegations of sexual misconduct, his name, his life’s work and opportunities for future employment are decimated,” stated Miltenberg. “Due process rules are meant to protect persons not from the deprivation but the mistaken or unjustified deprivation of life liberty or property. Don Shooter has spent his career in public service and his legacy will not be tarnished by false allegations, a compromised investigation and expulsion engineered so as to strip him of any meaningful opportunity to respond.”
Bernstein argues that the state, specifically former House Speaker J.D. Mesnard and Kirk Adams, the former chief of staff to Gov. Doug Ducey, erred when Shooter an Ethics Committee hearing before being forced out. Shooter was never afforded the opportunity to face his accusers.
Shooter, many of his former fellow legislators, and Miltenberg believe that he was conveniently forced out at the height of the #Metoo Movement “in retaliation for his investigation into corruption at the highest levels of the Arizona Legislature.”
Bernstein noted that “as some insiders at the Capitol already know, corruption is at the heart of this case. There are many facts that have yet to be made public. This case is important as it expose the manner in which Don Shooter was victimized by the personal interests of other elected officials.”
