Stephen Glass, former journalist who gained attention for fabricating magazine news articles in the 1990s, was denied license to practice law by the California Supreme Court, Monday.

The judge's gavel hit so hard that it shattered Glass saying that his journalistic dishonesty was "not a single lapse of judgement."

"Glass's deceit also was motivated by professional ambition, betrayed a vicious, mean spirit and a complete lack of compassion for others, along with arrogance and prejudice against various ethnic groups. In all these respects, his misconduct bore directly on his character in matters that are critical to the practice of law," the court ruling stated, reported The Washington Post.

Glass decided to become a lawyer after Charles Lane, his the then editor at The New Republic, fired him for making up over a dozens of articles that were published between 1996 and 1998. In 2002, he applied to become a member of the New York bar but pulled out after being informed about the possible chance of his moral character application getting rejected, according to the Post.

Following this, in 2003, Glass published a 'biographical novel,' 'The Fabulist.' In 2009, the Committee of Bar Examiners again refused to certify him and stated that he did not satisfy California's moral fitness test because of his history of journalistic deception.

The 41-year-old ex-journo had also joined as a law clerk at a Californian firm. He was successful in polishing his image at work. The Monday court ruling said that his boss Paul Zuckerman "became convinced that Glass was one of the best employees in the firm, with a fine intellect, a good work ethic, and reliable commitment to honesty."

David Plotz, the editor of  Slate, said he and his wife were once close to Glass. He lied to the couple on many occasions. "My wife Hanna Rosin was one of his closest confidantes at the New Republic, and he played her for a fool, too, and even tried to get her to defend his lies to the magazine's editor."

A feature film titled 'Shattered Glass' was made on The New Republic scandal. "It was very painful for me. It was like being on a guided tour of the moments of my life I am most ashamed of," Glass said of the movie to The New York Times.