| | | An old curmudgeon of a judge in a suburb of New Orleans had a banner over his bench that said something that I think is apt: "If you can't do the time, don't do the crime."
The lawyer knew better. He was educated in the law, knew full well that what he did was a felony but decided to voluntarily put his future at risk. Let him suffer the consequences. No mollycoddling because he was black or young or somehow felt that he was exercising his First Amendment rights or that his impoverished childhood prevented him from exercising proper impulse control.
I have a special dark place in my heart for lawyers who participate in this kind of thing. We are indoctrinated into respecting norms, doing things the right way, testing but never exceeding boundaries, and never ever committing stupid crimes like the lawyer in question did. This was no run-of-the-mill guy, either. Educated at Princeton (on some sort of scholarship, no doubt), then attended a prestigious law school.
As a bright black professional, the world was his oyster. The corporate need for diversity and inclusion meant that lots of corporations and law firms would salivate at the prospect of having him as an employee.
Rather than realize that he can do a lot more for his principles inside the tent than outside of it, he did the dumb and stupid not to mention felonious thing. Perhaps he thought that his position and education immunized him. And it might yet, but I hope not. The Bar Association will certainly have something to say about his license. Disbarment is a distinct possibility even if he should somehow evade jail time.
The other one hates America. The judge should give her a valid reason to do so. |
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