Paul L. Douglas (1927–2012) was an American lawyer and politician who served as

Nebraska Attorney General The Nebraska Attorney General is the chief law enforcement officer and lawyer for the U.S. state of Nebraska. List of attorneys general ;Parties Notes ReferencesAG Office document(cached) External links Nebraska Attorney Generalofficial ...

from 1975 until his resignation in 1984.

Early life and education

Douglas was born on September 19, 1927, in

Sioux Falls, South Dakota Sioux Falls () is the most populous city in the U.S. state of South Dakota and the 130th-most populous city in the United States. It is the county seat of Minnehaha County and also extends into Lincoln County to the south, which continues up ...

. He enlisted in the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

and served two years during World War II, and later in the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

. Douglas attended

Augustana University Augustana University is a private Lutheran university in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The university identifies 1860 as the year of its founding, the same as its Rock Island, Illinois Swedish-heritage sister school, Augustana College. It derives ...

and the

University of Nebraska College of Law The University of Nebraska College of Law is one of the professional graduate schools of University of Nebraska system. It was founded in 1888 and became part of University of Nebraska in 1891. According to Nebraska's official 2017 ABA-required d ...

Career as prosecutor and state attorney general

Douglas was a local prosecutor in

Lancaster County, Nebraska Lancaster County is a county located in the U.S. state of Nebraska. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 322,608, making it the second-most populous county in Nebraska. Its county seat is Lincoln, the state capital. The count ...

, until he was elected state attorney general in 1974. As a local prosecutor, Douglas was part of the prosecution team on the

Charles Starkweather Charles Raymond Starkweather (November 24, 1938 – June 25, 1959) was an American spree killer who murdered eleven people in Nebraska and Wyoming between December 1957 and January 1958, when he was nineteen years old. He killed ten of his victi ...

case. He took office as state AG in 1975, and was re-elected in 1978 and in 1982. In 1984, Douglas was impeached by the

Nebraska Legislature The Nebraska Legislature (also called the Unicameral) is the legislature of the U.S. state of Nebraska. The Legislature meets at the Nebraska State Capitol in Lincoln. With 49 members, known as "senators", the Nebraska Legislature is the sm ...

for "allegedly lying about his dealings with an insolvent bank (Commonwealth Savings Company of Lincoln) and failing to investigate the institution". He was the only Nebraska official impeached in the 20th century. In accordance with the

Nebraska Constitution The Nebraska Constitution is the basic governing document of the U.S. state of Nebraska. All acts of the Nebraska Legislature, the governor, and each governmental agency are subordinate to it. The constitution has been amended 228 times since it ...

, the

Nebraska Supreme Court The Nebraska Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Nebraska. The court consists of a chief justice and six associate justices. Each justice is initially appointed by the governor of Nebraska; using the Missouri Plan, each jus ...

conducted the

impeachment trial An impeachment trial is a trial that functions as a component of an impeachment. Several governments utilize impeachment trials as a part of their processes for impeachment, but differ as to when in the impeachment process trials take place and how ...

; in a ''

per curiam In law, a ''per curiam'' decision (or opinion) is a ruling issued by an appellate court of multiple judges in which the decision rendered is made by the court (or at least, a majority of the court) acting collectively (and typically, though not ...

'' ruling issued in May 1984, the court found him not guilty, allowing him to remain in office. Douglas was indicted in June 1984, and was tried in Lancaster County District Court. On December 14, 1984, he was acquitted of obstruction of governmental operations (a misdemeanor) but convicted of perjury (a felony). His law license was then suspended, and he resigned as state attorney general on December 27, 1984. Douglas maintained his innocence and said he would appeal the conviction, but said he resigned because he had always taken the position that an elected official should resign if convicted of a felony, saying, "I see no reason why it should not apply to me." His perjury conviction was overturned by the

in May 1986.

Subsequent career

Douglas resumed his career as a lawyer, practicing as a

sole practitioner A sole practitioner or solo practitioner is a professional, such as a lawyer or an architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connect ...

Lincoln, Nebraska Lincoln is the capital city of the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Lancaster County. The city covers with a population of 292,657 in 2021. It is the second-most populous city in Nebraska and the 73rd-largest in the United Sta ...

, until his death. Among his clients were some Gage County officials sued in the

Beatrice Six The Beatrice Six are Joseph White, Thomas Winslow, Ada JoAnn Taylor, Debra Shelden, James Dean and Kathy Gonzalez, who were falsely found guilty in 1989 of the 1985 rape and murder of Helen Wilson in Beatrice, Nebraska and served prison terms befo ...

case. He died in Lincoln, on November 5, 2012, at the age of 85.

Personal life

Douglas was married and was a member of the

Greek Orthodox The term Greek Orthodox Church ( Greek: Ἑλληνορθόδοξη Ἐκκλησία, ''Ellinorthódoxi Ekklisía'', ) has two meanings. The broader meaning designates "the entire body of Orthodox (Chalcedonian) Christianity, sometimes also cal ...

Church of the Annunciation in Lincoln.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Douglas, Paul L. 1927 births 2012 deaths American people convicted of perjury Impeached state attorneys general in the United States Nebraska Attorneys General Nebraska lawyers Nebraska Republicans Politicians from Lincoln, Nebraska Politicians from Sioux Falls, South Dakota Military personnel from South Dakota Nebraska politicians convicted of crimes 20th-century American lawyers