Letters: Attacks on the press
Shutterstock
President Bob Carlson’s message, “America: The Resilient Land of the Free,” November, is an eloquent statement of support for the rule of law, a free press, and free and fair elections. It did, however, make me want to know what defenders of the Trump administration would say in response. Perhaps they have different ideas about the definition of the rule of law, free press and free and fair elections. Or maybe they feel that President Trump and his administration fully support those concepts. Are there not, then, any ABA members who could write a response in defense of the Trump administration? Because I think many of us would really like to know what their reasoning might be!
Keith Roberts
New York City
Mr. Carlson states: “Attacks on free speech and a free press also have no place in our society. Criticism of citizens for exercising their right to dissent or be heard and calling the press the ‘enemy of the people’ cannot be tolerated.” Does he not see the inconsistency in these two sentences?
Constitutionally, criticism must in fact be tolerated unless it contains falsehoods or, as applied to the press, malicious falsehoods.
B. Paul Hatcher
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Shutterstock
VOTING RIGHTS
When I was reading “Taking Away the Vote,” October, I was reminded of a case I had more than 20 years ago. I accepted an appointment by the court to represent a young woman whose parents were seeking a guardianship. The petition listed the right to vote as one of the actions the proposed ward would lose, and the parents had done what many people do when completing the petition form to be appointed as a guardian: They checked every box, including the right to vote.
I objected to my client losing her right to vote, which apparently no one had done before because the judge was surprised at the objection. He reasoned that she was not able to knowingly obtain facts to understand the issues and intelligently exercise the right to vote. My response was, if the law required everyone who voted to do so knowingly and intelligently, a large percentage of those who now vote would not be able to do so. He smiled and granted my request to not include the right to vote in the appointment of the guardian.
Fortunately, in New Hampshire, the right to vote is no longer listed on the petition as a right that can be denied to a proposed ward.
Diana G. Bolander
Wolfeboro, New Hampshire
Shutterstock
ANOTHER ADDICTION
Jeena Cho’s article “Tales of Addiction,” October, is great except that she makes the same mistake most lawyer assistance programs make around the country. Because a large portion of the membership had alcohol or other substance abuse problems, they tend to omit the compulsive gambling problem. Considering that addiction has probably caused more economic loss to their clients and to the lawyers’ funds than any other, we tend to disregard the devastating problems because it really is difficult to detect before the devastation occurs. Most of the problems are discovered after the client has lost huge sums.
Max Hahn
New York City
additional words
With regard to “How Do You Say It?” October, I can’t wait for Bryan A. Garner’s next article. Oops! I mean I can hardly wait. Great thought-provoking challenges.
Greg Dixon
Troy, Ohio
Photo of Bryan Garner by Winn Fuqua Photography
Bryan A. Garner’s pronunciation quiz was disheartening, to say the least. As a long-serving attorney and CPA, I only got nine out of 25 correct and thus must assume I have mispronounced these common terms for most of my career, although I worked alongside astute and capable attorneys on Capitol Hill for most of my life. When Garner refers to one “old pronunciation as a lost cause,” blames another “pronunciation to law professors who accent the last syllable perhaps to help their students spell the word correctly on exams,” and refers to “medieval Latinists respelling one word based on false etymology,” I am embarrassed that I am so out-of-touch and ignorant. Although his test is enlightening, it certainly does humble us old legal dinosaurs who have had successful careers speaking what we thought was proper English.
Leslie L. Megyeri
Washington, D.C.
You may submit a letter by email to [email protected] or via mail: Attn: Letters, ABA Journal, 321 N. Clark St. Chicago, IL 60654. Letters must concern articles published in the Journal. They may be edited for clarity or space. Be sure to include your name, city and state, and email address. Read more Letters to the Editor from the ABA Journal magazine.
