Manglona denies lawyer’s request to withdraw her show cause order

U.S. District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona has denied lawyer Stephen C. Woodruff’s request that she withdraw her order for him to explain why he should not be suspended from the practice of law in federal court and discipline him for failure to comply with the court’s orders.

In a separate order, Manglona also denied Woodruff’s motion to reseal the disciplinary matter against him.

In another order, Manglona granted Woodruff’s request to reschedule the order to show cause hearing after the Nov. 4 general election. The hearing, originally set for yesterday, Oct. 15, was moved to Nov. 12, 2014.
On Woodruff’s request for the court to withdraw the order to show cause, Manglona said Woodruff implicated that the court is responsible for the bad press he has received and should take measures to right this wrong.

The judge said the order to show cause was properly issued publicly and will not be sealed.

“If [Woodruff] is aggrieved by press coverage, he must take that up with the press,” she said.

Manglona said Woodruff will have the opportunity to show cause why sanctions should not be imposed at the show-cause hearing.

In his request, Woodruff argued that he is the target of misleading publicity in local press coverage of Manglona’s order to show cause. He argued that withdrawal is the proper remedy because the order to show cause was improperly entered.

Woodruff noted that this past Friday, he asked the court to reseal this disciplinary case, and that the court failed to act on that motion over the Columbus Day weekend.

On the motion to reseal the case, Manglona ruled that the public’s interest in disclosure outweighs Woodruff’s interest in secrecy.

“A watchful public eye on proceedings is never more necessary than when it is alleged a judicial officer may be acting out of bias or improper motive,” the judge said.

Manglona said Woodruff’s motion and declaration call into question the court’s impartiality as he focuses on the propriety of the court ordering him to show cause in a disciplinary matter less than a month before the election. Woodruff is a candidate for a Senate seat.

Manglona said those arguments, however, weigh heavily in favor of open, not closed, proceedings.

The judge said the public policy in favor of open access serves “the citizen’s desire to keep a watchful eye on the workings of public agencies.”

Manglona said Woodruff acknowledges that this disciplinary case has been unsealed and open for public inspection for more than a year and a half since March 21, 2013, and that “the local news media have publicly report[ed] most, if not all, filings in this case.”

The judge said respondent’s concern is not that further open proceedings will prematurely and unfairly disclose confidential information or untested accusations, but that already widely publicized facts and allegations will be republished during the campaign season and disproportionately affect the outcome of the election.

Manglona said that possibility might be grounds to continue the show-cause hearing until after election day if he were to request.

In his request to unseal, Woodruff asserted that open proceedings would unfairly prejudice him and improperly embroil the court in CNMI electoral politics.

Woodruff said he believes that open proceedings may unfairly have a negative impact on his electoral prospects.