The financial crisis - what my grandfather once said.
My grandfather was an old-time Methodist minister. He turned out to be the greatest moral influence in my life. He said something strange to me when I was a teenager: "It is morally wrong to sell...
View ArticleSubstance v. Style
Years ago, as a lawyer in a lost cause, I found myself forced to make a closing argument that was a sure loser. The evidence was against me. The law was against me. The judge knew it. Opposing...
View ArticleYou want me to do what, Mr. President?
Best Lawyer in the Land (BLL): You want me to do what, Mr. President?President: I want you to write a memo that says I can order Agent Igor to torture people.BLL: Well of course you "can," Mr....
View ArticlePreventive detention of terrorists? Why not?
In the movie Grand Canyon, Danny Glover has been forced to show a gang leader "respect" by asking "permission" to go about his business, prompting the gang leader to ask "Do you respect me, or do you...
View ArticleWho needs a "right" to kill?
I am a general practice lawyer in California who has spent over 44 years pondering and arguing the concept of self defense in some pretty high courts and in advising my clients. But this is not a...
View ArticleDear Mr. Scarborough:
I got up early this morning and watched in horror as I saw you lecturing America about Michael Brown's surrender and what is true and what is not true, what is decided and what is not decided, and...
View ArticleResisting arrest - an old trick
It's an old trick used by police everywhere. It is used to justify brutal force in effecting arrest. Obviously, it's the law that IF you are TOLD you are under arrest, you must submit to that arrest...
View ArticleMe and the Cops - Part 1
I’ve been a solo general practice lawyer in the Sacramento area for 45 years. I’m old now. I made my meager living helping people deal with abuse of power of all kinds. This is the one about the time...
View ArticleMe and the Cops - Part 2
I have contended that the greatest power a license to practice law confers is the power to compel powerful people to testify under oath. But police have developed a countermeasure. It’s called lying....
View ArticleMe and the Cops - Part 3
I’ve bitched about bad cops a lot. So it would be dishonest of me not to mention one of my heroes. It was a long time ago. The 70s. Most of the players are long retired or dead.My client was a...
View ArticleMe and the Cops - Part 4
I will never understand the authoritarian mind. Here’s one from the mid-nineties. The laws have changed since then, but . . .My client got into verbal argument with his neighbor in the street of his...
View ArticleMe and the Cops - Part 5
Do you have to do what the cops tell you to do? That’s a really interesting question. Sally was a waitress, like at Dennys. She had just gone through a breakup and found herself looking for a place...
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