From Dirty Trickster to Your Honor? : Mind-boggling: Watergate’s Donald H. Segretti is proposed for Orange County judgeship

The idea that there is such a thing as rehabilitation in American life has allowed a rogue’s gallery of figures from the Watergate era to embark on such new and varied careers as talk show host, spy novelist, car salesman, and yes, even minister and locksmith.

Donald H. Segretti ought to be grateful for his second act--the ability to practice law in Newport Beach after serving about 4 1/2 months in jail for his part in the Nixon campaign’s effort to discredit Democratic candidates in the 1972 elections. His license to practice law was also suspended for two years starting in 1976.

Now friends apparently have indulged the delusion that this is someone suitable for an Orange County Superior Court judgeship. Segretti is eligible because he was convicted of a misdemeanor, not a felony, and has had a clean record for at least 10 years. But he also is an example of why just meeting the requirements for public office is not enough.

The mere idea of Segretti as a judge boggles the mind. It is equally surprising there is anybody who might agree this is a good idea. Don Henley, president of Orange County’s wealthy Republican group, the Lincoln Club, for one, justifies support for his fellow club member by concluding that “the whole thing with Watergate was something of a witch hunt anyway. “

The shenanigans with which Segretti was associated, like falsely claiming that Sen. Henry M. Jackson (D.-Wash.) fathered an illegitimate child with a 17-year-old girl, may have resulted in only a misdemeanor conviction, and Segretti since has opined on the responsibilities of standard bearers in political campaigns, but he and the rest of the dirty-tricks crowd contributed significantly to the cynicism about government that has alienated many Americans from the political system.

We are still trying to fix that problem today, and there are some candidates who just cannot be part of the solution by virtue of who they are. Today, the judiciary is a pivotal place for establishing faith in the credibility and judgment of those who serve. Let Donald Segretti have his revised post-Watergate views on American politicians and government--as did Richard Nixon himself--but not from the bench in a court of law.