By Charles Wolfe
The Associated Press

FRANKFORT - A law school graduate who failed to disclose an arrest for prostitution on her application should be allowed to try to become a lawyer anyway, the Kentucky Supreme Court ruled Thursday.

A majority of the justices lauded her for having "taken appropriate steps to deal with the residue of her early life."

The court's order went against the recommendation of the Kentucky Bar Association's Character and Fitness Committee, which said Taylor Strasser's "abusive childhood and prior lifestyle" left her lacking the "mental and emotional fitness to be admitted to the Kentucky Bar."

Strasser, who started at Chase Law School at Northern Kentucky University and transferred to the University of Louisville's law school, disclosed a 1996 drunken driving conviction on her applications but not her other legal problems - arrests for being a runaway as a juvenile and for prostitution in 1997, when she was involved in an escort service.

Applying to take the bar exam, Strasser disclosed the prostitution charge, which had been dismissed, along with a 1999 arrest for failure to appear in court on a traffic violation.

She took the bar exam in July 2001, pending the outcome of her Character and Fitness investigation, and her scores have been withheld, according to the order by Chief Justice Joseph E. Lambert.

Following an investigation and two hearings, the Character and Fitness Committee said Strasser "has not demonstrated the maturity and insight to be placed in a position of trust."

But the chief justice's order said the committee "has concentrated too much, we think, on the events occurring immediately prior to Ms. Strasser's application for admission."

"We see a young woman who has overcome tremendous disadvantages to attend college and law school," Lambert wrote.

"Any prospective member of the bar brings his or her life experiences to this profession. Ms. Strasser has taken appropriate steps to deal with the residue of her early life," Lambert wrote.

Justices William Cooper, Janet Stumbo and Bill Graves joined in the order. Justice Martin Johnstone said he would defer a decision pending further counseling. Justice Donald Wintersheimer dissented without filing an opinion. Justice James Keller did not take part in the case.

Strasser's hometown was not disclosed in the court's order and no telephone listing could be found. The bar examiner's office in Lexington did not return a call for information about Strasser's bar exam scores.