Jon's news & views

Not long ago, I blogged that I welcomed resumes for an added part-time legal assistant position at my law firm. I am pleased to say that this position has been filled by a highly-qualified applicant who started last week.

As I do all the time to their faces, here in cyberspace I thank my staffmembers for their highly capable and dedicated work for our clients. They are my full-time legal assistant David and part-time legal assistant Young Hee, both of whom have been with me since the first day my law firm opened five months ago; and part-time legal assistant Letam. All my staffmembers are a pleasure to work with, and they give me and my clients boosted confidence that all is running smoothly when I am in court and elsewhere battling for justice.

To those who employ or supervise employees, I send you good karma to share good karma with your employees every moment of the day. Thanks, again, David, Young Hee, and Letam. Jon Katz.

 David Lynch's Eraserhead.

Great creativity from any quarter inspires me as a trial lawyer.

Film directors who particularly inspire me include Jim Jarmusch, John Waters, and David Lynch. All three came to filmmaking from outside the Hollywood filmmaking establishment, and all of them have pushed the creative envelope. Jarmusch has said that he bypasses the suits and gets much of his film financing from Europe. In his early days, Waters assembled a motley crew from Baltimore in low-budget works that earned him the title of the prince of puke and the king of trash. David Lynch said that his now-widely celebrated Eraserhead has a one and one-half year time gap in a scene where Jack Nance opens a door and emerges on the other side, due to a budgeting drought. All three directors were passionate enough about filmmaking over profit that they persevered and succeeded.

Pure, quality art for art's sake is inspiring, whether it be the visual or performing arts.

As I discuss here, I first learned of Lynch's Eraserhead from the wall poster of a first-semester college roommate with whom I was so narrow-minded that I resisted knowing about Eraserhead for years. I finally saw the film eighteen years ago, and it remains one of my favorites.

This being Sunday, when I often blog on items less directly related to law, I post here the following links that might give some insight about what makes David Lynch tick:

- Here is a lengthy presentation by Lynch and others, including the inspiration Lynch derives from Transcendental Meditation. He discusses meditation further here. TM was developed by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, whom John Lennon eventually panned as but a mere mortal, at best.. I meditate through t'ai chi standing meditation; beforehand, I sometimes meditated using the teachings of Herbert Benson in the Relaxation Response.

- Lynch discusses the development of ideas.

- He discusses Eraserhead here, here, and here (with Jack Nance, who played Henry, also in the last clip).

- Here he discusses Mulholland Drive.

- Lynch finds advertising product placement in films to be B.S. He says a film cannot be experienced on a telephone. He likes using expletives. Jon Katz.

Millions have been repeating "Happy New Year" this week. Millions make resolutions for the new year, so often not kept.

A worthy resolution that can be started immediately is nonviolence. Let this be the first of all days that people no longer hit their children, their significant others, nor anyone else.

Reducing the eating of land and sea animals reduces violence, as does the reduction of buying and wearing leather and fur. The hunting of animals and the catching of fish needs to stop.

Let this be an era where people insist that their governments rein in militarism, end capital punishment, and rein in police violence, including tasing, shooting, beating, and police dog attacks.

I am not a complete pacifist, but I believe that violence begets violence, and that non-violence starts with each of us, right this moment. Please join me now. Jon Katz.

ADDENDUM: Originally, I was going to focus this blog entry on the horrors and risks of nuclear war. In that regard, I include this link to the passionate and expletive-filled presentation of the late musician and bandleader Sun Ra -- who claimed to have come from another planet -- who admonished: "If they push that button, you can kiss your as* goodbye." Sun Ra's "Nuclear War" performance preceded the fall of the Soviet Union, but is at least as timely today as ever.

Freddie Hubbard at the Messina Jazz Festival with Elvin Jones, McCoy Tyner, Reggie Workman, and Sonny Fortune. 

In 1980, I bought and started wearing out Freddie Hubbard's album Red Clay with my turntable needle, before the days of DVD players.

The local jazzplaying radio station WPFW today announced that Freddie passed away. Indystar.com says it happened today, related to complications from a heart attack late last month. He was seventy.

Freddie Hubbard was a major force in jazz trumpet. He blew me away when I experienced him live at the late Jonathan Swift's nightclub in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a quarter century ago, when he proclaimed that he was not going to be playing any more crossover "sh*t".

Freddie was great both as the lead musician and as a team member, including with VSOP, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, and Woody Shaw.

As I have said many times, jazz music inspires me tremendously in my trial work, including the improvisation involved, the self-demand for excellence by jazz greats, and the mind-boggling envelope pushing of so many of them.

Thanks, Freddie, for you. Jon Katz.

Image from public domain.

Roy Pearson flushed his $100,000 administrative law judge job down the toilet over his widely and justifiably lampooned multi-million dollar lawsuit against a dry cleaner that allegedly misplaced his pants.

Last Thursday, the D.C. Court of Appeals affirmed his trial loss against the dry cleaner. The appellate opinion reveals that Pearson mishandled his pro se case by missing the ten-day deadline for demanding a jury trial, which he was never able to get reversed by the trial judge.

Out of the deep pain that Pearson's lawsuit caused the small businesspeople he sued in this litigation came the gift of providing sufficient information to have him removed from his administrative law judge position. Congratulations to the Chungs, who are the appellees and ultimate trial and appellate victors. Jon Katz

At forty-five, I still tend to feel invincible, unless I am killed by an accident, natural disaster, warfare, or deadly assault. However, as each year passes, more people I know pass away. I know people in their late eighties and nineties, who have outlived the vast majority of their chronological contemporaries.

Last week, Mark Helm passed away. He attended the Trial Lawyers College in 2004, which was nine years after I did. He was only thirty-eight.

I never met Mark, and do not think we interacted on the Trial Lawyers College's listserv or otherwise. I wish I had met him. From what I understand, Mark was a criminal defense lawyer who defended his clients to the hilt, and was able to be hilarious outside of court (and perhaps in court at the right times, for all I know) when fighting in the pits for justice.

Mark's website talks of the way he defended his clients, which ideally describes the level of representation that all criminal defendants should receive:

"I make every attempt to get to know my clients and fight for them as a friend, brother or sister. I do not fight for a name, a cause, or a case number. I fight for a person I care for often someone that has been forgotten, ignored, and passed by. I often fight for someone that has been kicked so many times and so many ways, it is heroic they chose to fight another day. I fight for people with dreams, often unrealized, because they never had a chance, never were given a chance but, they keep going and do the best they can.

"I believe everyone deserves to have someone in their corner. I feel privileged and fortunate to be able to help, defend, and support others on a daily basis. I aggressively defend and protect people the way I would like to be treated if I were accused of a crime. I never forget if the cards had been dealt differently, our roles may have been reversed and consequently, I do everything within my power to protect and defend the people I represent."

If I am not mistaken, I did not know about Mark because he had the modesty not to be tooting his own horn all the time, but instead focused on defending his clients. Think of all the wonderful people we do not meet nor spend time with because we let ourselves get sucked into the daily grind of work, sleep, personal calendars and beer. Not only does it enrich our own lives to make time for such people, but it also speaks loudly to them how much we think of them.

Thanks, Mark, for your inspiration. My thoughts are with you and your family. Jon Katz

Nikita providing further fodder for Mad Magazine.

On the Objection blog, anonymous blogger Gspeezy last Thursday announced his or her firing as a prosecutor, apparently in Washington state. S/he did not say the reason.

Since early 2008, Gspeezy blogged anonymously not to protect his or her identity, but, s/he wrote, for such reasons as acknowledging the rights of those against whom s/he litigated. Therefore, it seems his or her boss knew his or her blogging identity. Gspeezy's blog does not show one way or another whether his or her blog impacted Gspeezy's job termination.

Underlining how important it is to find the humanity in our opponents and not just our allies, Gspeezy's blog revealed a rocky year of plenty of days filled with boredom, job frustration, treading water to catch up with work obligations, getting his or her personal life organized, and an announcement two months ago incorrectly anticipating a long suspension of blog entries

Ironically, I learned of Gspeezy's job termination not long after learning about the Objection blog and about its author's job termination. Not many prosecutor blogs exist, and they are one way for me to get a better understanding of my opponents. If you have any prosecutor blogs to suggest adding to my blogroll, please send me the URL. Jon Katz.

A fellow criminal defense lawyer has over the years been an active local leader in the National Lawyers Guild and the American Civil Liberties Union. Over the years, I have felt strong dissonance over remaining a Guild member, but have stayed for the reasons expressed here, here and here. My points of departure with the ACLU -- which I have belonged to for over two decades -- are fewer and less deep. Unfortunately, if I leave the Guild, no sufficient alternative lawyers group exists to fill the void, so I stay, for now.

I asked the above-mentioned lawyer what motivates his decision to be so active in the Guild rather than remaining satisfied with the ACLU, which stands up for the rights of all regardless of political viewpoint, whereas the Guild focuses overarchingly on so-called progressives (which is one of my points of departure with the Guild). Without missing a beat, this rather calm-speaking lawyer declared either: "Because the system is racist" or "Because the court system is racist". Either way, racism still runs too rampant in society, including in the court system and criminal justice system, including racism running through judges, jurors, prosecutors, cops, trial witnesses, jailers, and court personnel. I suppose, then, that this lawyer, like I, would not stomach nor accept prosecuting.

What is your view about how racist are the judicial and criminal justice systems, and how can we eliminate it, or at least radically diminish it if the racism cannot be entirely excised?  Jon Katz.

Today and every December 10 is Human Rights Day, renewing life into the sixty-year-old Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Human rights violations run too rampant to just observe human rights day once a year. Daily, government officials, soldiers and police worldwide torture people, execute within and without the judicial system, and jail people because of their political beliefs, or racial, ethnic or religious status. In the United States, too many cops, judges, prosecutors, and jurors treat the Constitution as a nuisance in the way of their getting their job done. Too many cops love tasers and have tremendous trouble keeping them holstered. Human rights violations come in many additional forms, of course.

Too many people stay silent in the face of human rights violations until their own human rights are violated. They stay silent so as not to make waves, and so as not to cause problems with their jobs, for their family members, and for themselves. However, if you wait to speak up until your own rights are immediately threatened (they already are), that is too late. Silence is the voice of complicity; do not stay silent.

The above-displayed video to shut down Guantanamo at first blush might seem outdated seeing that Barack Obama pledged to close Guantanamo anyway. However, the American government's human rights violations in the name of an anti-terror war, an anti-drug war, and an anti-crime war go well beyond Guantanamo. For instance, what will Obama do about Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri, a Qatari national whom the United States government has incarcerated without charge nor trial in a military brig inside the United States? The Supreme Court recently agreed to hear al-Marri's challenge of his detention. Obama will have to decide what position the government takes in the Supreme Court in al-Marri v. United States.

Before you go to bed tonight, do your own part to strengthen human rights, even if it is as little as emailing and talking to your friends, family, and acquaintances about Human Rights Day, and writing at least one letter or email to a government official domestically or abroad to insist that human rights be protected now and forever. Jon Katz.