Prewitt, Ballou ask for lawsuit’s dismissal

A lawsuit filed last year against two Whitley District Judges by the Kentucky Department of Public Advocacy will likely be dismissed in the near future.
On Dec. 10, the Kentucky Department of Public Advocacy filed suit in Whitley Circuit Court asking Judge Paul Braden to in effect overrule an administrative order issued by District Judges Dan Ballou and Cathy Prewitt on Nov. 3, barring then public defender Carol R. Camp from appearing in district court.
Prewitt and Ballou filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit Monday noting that Camp has since moved to China.
Stuart Cobb, a lawyer for the Attorney General’s Office who is representing Ballou and Prewitt, said that since Camp is in China and not practicing law in Whitley County, the lawsuit is a moot point.
“Situations do occur in cases that render the case moot, and that would be the situation here,” Cobb noted.
He said under the circumstances, he didn’t think there would be any problems with getting the case dismissed.
James J. Barrett, an attorney representing the Department of Public Advocacy, said he wouldn’t comment on the matter until he had a chance to speak with attorneys representing Ballou and Prewitt.
In their administrative order, Ballou and Prewitt noted several reasons for their decision regarding Camp.
“Due to the past behavior of Carol Camp of the Public Defender’s Office in Whitley District Court, including but not limited to undermining the court with regard to the juvenile docket; showing a lack of respect for the court; interfering with court security, which is a contemptuous act; and reviewing confidential files in the court clerk’s office in which she was not involved as an attorney, it is hereby ordered that Carol Camp shall no longer be permitted to practice in either division of the Whitley District Court. This action has been taken after unsuccessful efforts were made to have the public defender’s office handle the matter internally,” Ballou and Prewitt wrote in their order.
The petition for writ of mandamus and prohibition, which was filed Dec. 10, sought to have the order rescinded and to keep Prewitt and Ballou from entering any similar order in the future.
“DPA (Department of Public Advocacy) believes that this order was entered not because of any improprieties on the part of Ms. Camp, but because … Ms. Camp has encountered systematic and persistent resistance from respondents to permit her to even attempt to make legal arguments and objections on behalf of her clients in Whitley Juvenile Court,” the lawsuit stated.
“If respondents illegal order is allowed to stand, it will have a chilling effect not only on all DPA attorneys who practice before the Whitley District Courts, but on all attorneys who practice before the Whitley District Courts.”
The lawsuit claims that the district court judges had no jurisdiction to ban a licensed attorney from practicing in that court, and that Ballou and Prewitt stepped outside their jurisdiction in doing so.
During a January hearing in the case, Braden ruled that judges have a right to bar an attorney from practicing law in their courtroom provided they have sufficient reason for doing so.
Braden agreed to hold a hearing so lawyers on both sides could present arguments over whether Ballou and Prewitt were justified in the barring of Camp from their courtrooms, but the hearing never occurred.