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While scouring an internet discussion board this morning, I was struck repeatedly by the use of a certain word from folks of a certain mindset.

That word is “they.”

As in, “They’re not like us.”  As in, “What they don’t want you to know.”  As in, “Don’t you just love it when they all come out.”

“They” is one of the most divisive words in human history.

The propagandists among us have a real “talent” for this divisiveness.  Please review the language employed at some of our nation’s recent “rallies,” for example.

Is there a word for “opposite of rally?”

Fortunately, the good people in society frequently make use of some diametrically different language.

I heard one particular word over and over recently during a local Spanish language religious ceremony.  I liked the way it sounded as the word warmly flowed from the minister.

In Spanish, the word is . . . ”nosotros.”

Following the service, I approached the speaker and asked him to translate.

I learned that “nosotros” means us (or “we”).

Nosotros:  To me, it’s a simple, one-word lesson that I hope not to forget anytime soon.  The lesson is that “it’s not all about ‘them.’  It’s about ‘us‘ - ALL OF US - and what we go out and do with our lives.”

“Nosotros” is the simple language lesson of inclusiveness that I had been taught earlier in life (in English) by Fred Slabach, assistant dean at the law school that I attended in Jackson, Mississippi.

But I’ll save that particular story for another day.

Scott Ealy

Image: www.FreeDigitalPhotos.net - (Simon Howden)

The Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists (AAIM) thought its ”Top Cop” lists would be helpful.

In reality though, lists like these are incredibly counter-productive.  Even my prosecutor friends agree.

AAIM’s annual designation of “Top Cops” and “Top Departments” is based solely on the number of DUI arrests “scored” by each officer or department.

Not wise.

Result:  Officer motivation gets called into question:  “Are you trying to make the list again this year?”

“Isn’t it true that this designation is based solely on how many arrests you make, rather than convictions?”

“Does this listing help serve as motivation for you — to pull drivers over more often than your colleagues?”

Scott Ealy

Image: www.FreeDigitalPhotos.net - (jscreationzs)

As courtroom action came to a halt Tuesday in the case against Rod Blagojevich, speculation began to emerge that the former Governor’s defense would ”rest” . . . without calling a single witness to testify.

That’s an unusual tactic, but occasionally it’s a tactic that works - as longtime residents of South – Central Illinois may recall.

In 1993, jurors in Effingham County found a Shumway businessman not guilty on a felony charge of bribery.  The defense called no witnesses in the highly-publicized case — after vigorous cross-examination of witnesses presented by the prosecution.

The defendant’s representation was handled by Anton R. Valukas, a partner in the prestigious Chicago law firm of Jenner & Block and former United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.

Official court records of the case have been expunged.

Anton Valukas

[Note:  I personally have employed the "no witnesses" defense strategy sparingly, but as recently as July of 2011 in a felony DUI matter (after this post was originally published).  My client, too, was found "Not Guilty."  It was a very unusual case].

Scott Ealy

Image: www.FreeDigitalPhotos.net - (br3akthru)

Nothing causes more fear and consternation in our local legal system than . . . court-ordered drug testing.

It catches some people off guard.  But, it shouldn’t.

Perhaps a new approach is needed.

Drug testing is an opportunity to prove himself / herself for the person who may have made mistakes.

It can help a defendant establish a track record of compliance with the law, bolstering that person’s status during plea negotiations or at a possible sentencing hearing.  Drug test results are not opinion but fact.

[As a defense attorney, I am well aware of the possibility of false "positive" test results.  But, most of our clients are behind the 8-ball (no pun intended) already, and additional review is usually available].

Frankly, there’s no stronger evidence than consistently clean test results to assist the Court in making the following necessary findings ”in mitigation” with regard to nearly any charged offense:

8.  The defendant’s criminal conduct was the result of circumstances unlikely to recur.

9.  The character and attitudes of the defendant indicate that he is unlikely to commit another crime.

10.  The defendant is particularly likely to comply with the terms of a period of probation.

A person who cannot comply with court-ordered drug testing should face the facts and seek help.

Although initially it may seem like punishment, in reality drug testing is supposedly there to help.

So, why not be bold and encourage clients to request random testing — up front — in any case in which an allegation involves the use of narcotics?

Few people have done more to help steer our people away from illicit drug use than our daily court Judge in Effingham County, the Honorable Sherri L.E. Tungate.

“It helped me to see what a jerk I was becoming,” one of my clients said recently about the testing program that Judge Tungate had ordered in his case.

“My friends say I’m different now.  I was wasting lots of time and risking my job with (cannabis use).  I am different now.  Better.  I’m back to being myself.”

So, the next time a Judge orders – or offers – even the possibility of drug testing, here’s my legally recommended response:

Scott Ealy

Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net - (Liz Noffsinger)

What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July?  To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciation of tyrants, brass fronted impudence; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade and solemnity, are, to him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy — a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages.  There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of the United States, at this very hour.

  

“The Meaning of July Fourth For The Negro,” Frederick Douglass (1852)

Scott:  I find it intellectually insulting – if not blasphemous - when Caucasian ministers suggest at this time of year that the morality of the “founding fathers” merited special blessing for our nation.

Do not say, ‘Why is it that the former days were better than these?’ For it is not from wisdom that you ask about this.

Ecclesiastes 7:10

In lieu of the Fourth of July, the Second of July seems more appropriate for a holiday celebration:  Civil rights leader (and World War II veteran) Medgar Evers was born on this date in 1925, and the USA’s most significant Civil Rights Act was signed into law on this date in 1964 . . . prompted in significant part by grief over the assassinations in 1963 of Evers and President John F. Kennedy.

In part, the Civil Right Act of 1964 provided that:

All persons shall be entitled to the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, and privileges, advantages, and accommodations of any place of public accommodation, as defined in this section, without discrimination or segregation on the ground of race, color, religion, or national origin.

Analysis:  “The Way It Is” – Bruce Hornsby and the Range (1986)

Scott Ealy

Participating in the “Shamrock Race To The Cross” this weekend, I pondered my substantial indebtedness to Sacred Heart Parish and Grade School in Effingham, which I attended from 1965-1974.  (I graduated from eighth grade - with 19 classmates – during ceremonies held at the “new” Sacred Heart Church in May of ’74).

My core values were shaped in the classroom, in church, and on the playgrounds at Sacred Heart – on issues of justice and fair play, in particular.

Many of our instructors left lasting impressions.

One especially winsome soul was Sister Susan Antonacci, our 6th grade home room teacher.

Sister Susan’s affection for each student, and each life, was something to behold.

Blessed with many talents, including the gift of enthusiasm, the red-haired Sister Susan was a marvelous educator who often would read aloud to us from classic works with first-rate, role-playing expression.

She also exhibited outstanding musical abilities — and musical tastes ranging from The Carpenters to David Bowie, as I recall.

And she spoke frequently with us about the less fortunate and the tough issues of the day, begging our young minds to think deeply (without ever having to make the request verbally).

With her caring kindness and the affection that she so easily displayed, Sister Susan made a difference everywhere, encouraging each of us to live in similar fashion.

In my childhood, there was a fictional television program, “The Flying Nun,” which ran for several seasons into the late 1960s on ABC-TV.  Well, we had the real Flying Nun at Sacred Heart in Sister Susan Antonacci!

[Ironically, the unforgettable "Sister Susan" departed our world at the much too early age of 50 on the last Monday in June of the year 2000 from injuries sustained in a St. Charles County, Missouri, auto accident].

Scott Ealy

Post-Race Relief On A Hot, Humid Morning - Courtesy Of A St. Louis Fire Department Water Truck

Like many, I was all decked out in floppy bunny ears provided by the Eveready company.  The bunny ears are a Susan G. Komen ”Race For The Cure” tradition.

I struggled at the starting line of this charity running event, as I thought about my late cousin.

On a human scale, it seemed so unfair:  Here I was enjoying the day in St. Louis, but Nancy was no longer with us.  She was the kind of person who would do anything to help anybody.  Ask me how I know.

Nancy met the love of her life in her 40s.  They married.  His children became their children, and they became a loving family.

However, Nancy was claimed by breast cancer a few short years later.

She is greatly missed.

[I ran on Saturday in memory of my paternal cousin Nancy Bock of Springfield, previously of Shumway, IL, and my maternal grandmother Martha Greene of Clifton, previously of Chicago, IL].

Scott Ealy

The Family Home of Medgar & Myrlie Evers in Jackson, Miss.

On this very night nearly half a century ago, a man whom I did not know willingly sacrificed his life for others in this driveway.  No man ever gave more for his fellow human beings than Medgar W. Evers.

To have been able to independently study the courageous civil rights work of Medgar Evers and walk the streets where he walked during my law school years has been one of the greatest privileges of my life.

(June 2008 Coverage)

(January 2009 Coverage)

(June 1963 Coverage)

Raw Tape:

Via the CBS Radio Network, I covered oral arguments before the Mississippi Supreme Court in 1992 on the issue of whether Byron de la Beckwith should be tried a third time for the 1963 murder of Medgar Evers.

[The recordings below may be of significant historical value].

News Link:  “Court Allows 3rd Trial …,” N.Y. Times (December 17, 1992).

As a law student, I declined a solicitation (through a college professor) to provide assistance to the Byron de la Beckwith defense team.  I later became involved with the NAACP’s Jackson Branch in publicly advocating that de la Beckwith be brought to trial.

My thoughts and words of gratitude in response to the Evers family’s heroism are wholly inadequate.

Scott Ealy

St. Ives - Patron Saint of Lawyers

A late 13th century advocate for the poor in France, St. Ives is the legal profession’s patron saint.

In addition to standing up for poverty stricken individuals, Ives reportedly ”chased immorality and sin from the village of Louannec.”  [By reputation, almost any attorney from Ives' time would have "chased immorality and sin" . . . just minus the part about "from the village].”

Roman Catholics marked a ”feast day” Wednesday for St. Ives, who died on May 19, 1303.

(Maybe I wasn’t paying attention, but I do not recall hearing mention of St. Ives during my eight year stint at Sacred Heart Grade School in Effingham).

Scott Ealy

Image: www.FreeDigitalPhotos.net

To separate them from others of similar age and qualifications solely because of their race generates a feeling of inferiority as to their status in the community that may affect their hearts and minds in a way unlikely ever to be undone.

  

U.S. Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of Education

Today marks the 56th anniversary of the historic Brown v. Board of Education decision outlawing racial segregation in public education.

Although Brown was decided in 1954, schools in the South generally didn’t “get around” to desegregating until 1970, at which time the “whites only” private academies sprang into prominence (under the guise of Christian education, no less).  Public schools were abandoned by racist whites and the sheep who either couldn’t or wouldn’t stand up to them.

Even now, in some areas the situation has improved very little.

How did parents equip their children with self-esteem in the face of (separate and unequal) state-supported segregation prior to Brown v. Board of Education?

Soundbite:

Listen as my late friend, civil rights leader Aaron Henry of Clarksdale, Mississippi, addresses his upbringing:

[Recorded at Mississippi College School of Law in Jackson, Mississippi (1993)].

For The Record:  During my law school years, our only school-aged child attended the public school system in Jackson.  At one point in this experience, voters in majority white precincts voted in 1991 against a bond issue to guarantee classroom air conditioning for children in the predominantly African American local public schools.

I also do not understand parents who would deny their own children the opportunity to learn not only with, but from children of other cultures and experiences.  The lesson often missed is that we all are much more alike than different.

A Thought:  The USA has been a nation for fewer than 225-years.  Most forms of racial discrimination have been outlawed (in fact) only during the last fifth of this nation’s existence.  We have much to learn.

Scott Ealy