On April Arlene Sponsel

It is rare for prosecutors to be sanctioned for violating the rules of legal ethics, but those who are charged with prosecution should be held to a higher standard, not a lower one.

Dear Friends,

Most of you know that I’m an attorney. My first admission to the bar was in Colorado in 2008, with later admissions to Arizona and New Hampshire. While I no longer subscribe to the Colorado Bar Association’s magazine, I do receive monthly publications from the Arizona and New Hampshire bar associations.

Last year, “Arizona Attorney” did a survey of bar members to find out which sections of the magazine were most read by practicing attorneys. Do you know which section was read by more attorneys every issue than every other section?

It was Lawyer Regulation, i.e. the disciplinary reports. Not really surprising for the same reason that true crime podcasts are popular. People are drawn to stories of punishment for doing wrong.

Attorneys are bound by the rules of legal ethics in any jurisdiction they are licensed in. These rules are enforced by other attorneys, not a government agency. That’s what makes a profession a profession, as opposed to a regulated trade like plumbing. It’s also why policing ought to be a profession. When attorneys are found to have broken those rules of legal ethics, they are disciplined by the bar association, and that discipline is annouced publicly so that potential clients and colleagues are informed and other professionals are encouraged to follow the rules.

The May 2025 Lawyer Regulation column in Arizona Attorney magazine contained something seldom seen. April Arlene Sponsel, a prosecutor in the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office had her two-year suspension from the practice of law upheld by the Arizona Supreme Court.

April Sponsel

She was suspended for bringing felony criminal prosecutions against protesters in Phoenix, without regard for the language of the statute, the inaccuracy of the evidence, and for the requirement to seek prosecution in good faith and in compliance with the rules of legal ethics.

Sponsel was suspended back in 2023, but her case only showed up in the bar magazine this month because she appealed her suspension all the way to the Arizona Supreme Court in an April 11, 2025 decision in case No. SB-24-0007-AP. The whole decision is worth your time, but this particular paragraph stood out:

“Sponsel was a veteran prosecutor for seventeen years. Her substantial experience made her well aware of the grave consequences of overcharging a case. Moreover, Sponsel’s misconduct was not confined to one discrete case. Rather, Sponsel’s ethical violations stem from multiple cases involving several defendants. For these reasons, we conclude that the two-year suspension is warranted, and Sponsel must demonstrate her rehabilitation before reinstatement.”

The cautionary tale of April Sponsel should be on the mind of every Assistant United States Attorney who works for Attorney General Pam Bondi. Bondi is currently being investigated by the Florida State Bar for behavior that stands in conflict with the rules of ethics she is bound by, above and beyond her oath as a federal cabinet official.

The current indictment of Kilmar Abrego Garcia in Tennessee is an example of the kind of behavior that got April Sponsel suspended from practicing law. Charges created years after police had found no reason to charge, based on flimsy informant evidence, and brought after the defendant had embarassed the government in a civil suit make the malicious and targeted nature of the prosecution obvious. That’s probably why Ben Schrader, the head of the criminal division in the Middle District of Tennessee, resigned instead of putting his name on the indictment.

Every prosecutor who signs the bottom of an indictment on behalf of the government should read the disciplinary opinion in April Arlene Sponsel’s case and hold themselves to a higher standard of ethical behavior when wielding that awsome power.

Prosecutors in the United States enjoy near absolute immunity for civil or criminal liability for their actions. The sanctions provided by the legal profession are one of the few effective tools to discipline unethical prosecutors and demonstrate to the public a commitment to seeking justice without fear or favor.

Accountability matters.

Yours truly,

Nick