My 500 Words

I join with friends from around the world who remember the tragic events of September 11, 2001. We remember the sadness and shock we felt as we began to contemplate the unfathomable costs in the form of lost lives, collapsed buildings, destroyed businesses, and we mourned the loss of safety and security. Every television and radio station spewed images and details of each horrific act. One plane, then another; one tower and then the next. We had no idea about what was to come next. But we knew there was more to come, and it did. The Pentagon, Flight 93 went down when passengers revolt against the hijacker, and then we heard reports that its target was most likely the White House or the Capitol. Air space was completely shut down to all commercial traffic as we wondered if our ordinary lives could ever be normal again.  Thousands of families bore the intimate loss of loved ones and shared their loss with billions of people from around the globe. Amid the stories of the lost an...

Louise Hess taught Junior Honors English for many years. She encouraged thoughtful discussion of literary ideas in works including the Scarlet Letter, Huckleberry Finn, and The Crucible. Throughout each term she would assign readings and homework as she taught us to hone critical thinking skills and develop ways to express them artfully and persuasively. Mrs. Hess encouraged rational and reasoned debate that evaluated serious classical themes. When it came time for grading, Mrs. Hess would evaluate our progress through an end-of-term essay that began “I deserve a ______ because . . ..” I always wrote that I deserved an A. Once I suggested that I deserved an A because of the competitive disadvantage any other grade would cause to my collegiate aspirations. To my surprise some of my classmates would argue for lower grades. I could never understand that strategy. If Mrs. Hess planned to award a lower grade she would do so regardless of the request in that final essay. This past week...

Whenever an election result turns on a handful of votes or ends in a tie, stories abound about the importance of the individual ballot and the regret that those who failed to vote must feel if their candidate barely came up short. While it is true that only a few votes could have made the difference in the outcome, the act of voting carries its own importance regardless of the outcome. Yes, even if the candidate you had selected loses the election, your vote maintains value and should not be considered wasted.  When votes are counted one candidate usually wins and the other candidates lose because we cast most votes for individual seats. Those who ultimately made up the most votes for one candidate normally feel that their vote counted and was worth the effort because “they” won. For those who opted for a different candidate, whose tally simply came up short, they tend to feel like their vote didn’t matter, that they didn’t have a voice.  But their vote and their vo...

Charlotte Whitney, or her attorneys, made the same mistake as many defendants who have been accused of a crime. She failed to bring up possible reasons that she shouldn’t have been charged, or convicted of a crime, when she had her trial. When the United States Supreme Court got her case, it was too late for them to make up facts that were probably true, but had never been established during the trial that ended in her conviction. Miss Whitney was a political activist and in 1919 she found herself in the middle of an emotionally-laden debate and crackdown surround the evils of socialism and communism. California had passed a law prohibiting what it called criminal syndicalism. By associating with and helping to form the Communist Labor Party of California, Ms. Whitney violated the law and was convicted. The question that justified her appeal to the United States Supreme Court asked if the California law violated a federal question, specifically the rights that allow for freedom of spee...

The stress level of the day had grown with each new tab Grayson opened on his browser window. The research spiral continued to grow wider instead of narrowing toward a refined consensus. Legal research seldom ends up in a neatly-tied package all wrapped up with a bow. But after a while the authorities begin to repeat themselves and the essential arguments that frame the possible outcomes tend to emerge. Today the common convergence escaped any meaningful structure as each jurisdiction and opinion seemed to fragment every cogent thought put forth in the previous decision. Grayson found himself swimming in an ocean of jurisprudential confusion and he wasn’t wearing a life jacket. He could feel his brain drowning in an intellectual soup in which Eris would take great pride. Grayson’s one hope for relief was to catch up with his friends, something he had neglected as he spent extended hours at the office for the past several weeks. He took his chances and opened another tab and typed ...