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Over the past two months, I’ve noticed (and reported) hundreds of graffiti tags in my community, and I’ve also had some discussions with city staff about how to deter graffiti vandals. Read more »

Comments Off on Law & Justice: Two New Developments

Two news reports today pertain to “Law and Justice,” and I think both demonstrate fundamentally absurd views of law and justice. Read more »

Comments Off on Is Kaiser the Future of Health Care?

I was intrigued today by Steve Butler’s opinion column titled “Kaiser May Be Future of Health Care.” Perhaps it drew my attention because my next errand was to pick up a prescription at Kaiser Permanente.

As I read the column, I mostly agreed with his main points: Read more »

Comments Off on The Politics of Defeat: George W. Bush and the “Troop Surge” — The Blame Game

January 11, 2007 — Earlier this week, my wife commented that President Bush was scheduled to make a “major announcement” on Wednesday (January 10) about the war in Iraq. My immediate response was to assert that Bush’s goal was simple: to announce an unacceptable, unreasonable proposal to escalate the failed “war” in order to force the Democrats to object and refuse to allow it. Then, Bush will claim that the failure of the war in Iraq is the fault of the Democrats’ refusal to accept his last-minute miracle solution, and not Bush’s fault. Read more »

Comments Off on The Legacy: Terrorism and Deception

August 10, 2006 –– This morning, I read news reports of a “foiled terrorist plot” in London. My response: disbelief.

But this is not the disbelief that comes during the first moments of a bad situation, the “denial” phase of a process of adjustment. No, this is plain and simple disbelief. I believe that my American goverment, and the government of Great Britain, are deliberately lying and distorting the truth for political gain. Read more »

Comments Off on Privacy, Liberty, Respect, and the U.S. Constitution: Lawrence v. Texas

(June 26, 2003) Something incredible happened today: the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that it is unconstitutional for the government to regulate private sexual conduct, and that the government may not act in ways that would demean persons in homosexual relationships. (Lawrence v. Texas).

In a 6-3 decision, accompanied by a broad and sweeping written opinion, the Court struck down a Texas law which criminalized consensual sexual conduct between two persons of the same sex. In doing so, the Court overturned a 1986 decision in the case of Bowers v. Hardwick, which had upheld a Georgia “sodomy” law. Read more »

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I apologize that this particular “Perspective” is long and complex, but I could find no other way to write it. I hope you’ll be patient enough to read this one through. Read more »

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October 15, 2001 — A month after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, I remain somewhat numb and confused, but my outrage is starting to take root.

My outrage is not at the criminals who sought to bring terror to daily American life, but at the Americans who have accepted terror and violence as proper responses. Read more »

Comments Off on I Was Wrong (About this email virus)

(December 11, 1999) Oops.  I was wrong.

For years, I have received emails from friends and strangers alike, urgently warning me about email viruses that could be triggered simply by reading an email message. Read more »

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Every once in a while, someone asks me why I chose to become a lawyer, and I am usually uncomfortable with the question. We all choose our careers for a wide variety of reasons, and each of us is motivated by an uncountable number of events and impressions.

But invariably, when I think about why I chose to attend law school, and when I think about what I would like to achieve as an attorney, I am drawn back to a newspaper article I read in the spring of 1980, while I was a freshman in college. Read more »