TERM LIMITS FOR SUPREME COURT JUSTICES?

Thursday, September 27^th, 2018

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

TERM LIMITS FOR SUPREME COURT JUSTICES?

Whatever the final result over the confirmation battle of Judge Brett Kavanaugh, one thing is becoming more urgent.  The court itself has a crisis of legitimacy. And one way to restore its genuineness is to require term limits for all future judges.

The Supreme Court of old was more majestic with few periods of confrontation.  Just a decade ago, 2/3rds of Americans had great confidence in the Court.  No more. There’s trouble brewing in those marble temple walls. Confidence in the workings of the court and the Justices themselves have dropped to a mere 50% approval rating.

And it should not be any surprise as to why the Supremes are held is such low esteem.  They have become a partisan body, every bit as political as the other two branches of government.  We saw such partisanship front and center in the Bush-Gore election decision and in the court’s blessing of Obamacare.  Five to four split decisions are becoming the norm with Republican appointees voting one way and their Democratic counterparts voting just the opposite. No more moderates or progressives on the court.  Just jurists who are either hard right or hard left.

The writers of the constitution never envisioned such partisanship. The nation’s founding fathers imagined a court made up of legal sages, devoid of the political pressures experienced by congress and the president. Justices of the past seemed to relish in their image of being independent and simply interpreting the law as written.

Current Chief Justice John Roberts made a vain attempt to enunciate such a balanced philosophy at his confirmation hearings back in 2005 when he told the Senate judiciary Committee:

“Judges and justices are servants of the law, not the other way around. Judges are like umpires. Umpires don't make the rules; they apply them. The role of an umpire and a judge is critical. They make sure everybody plays by the rules. But it is a limited role. Nobody ever went to a ball game to see the umpire. Judges have to have the humility to recognize that they operate within a system of precedent, shaped by other judges equally striving to live up to the judicial oath.”

So justices are not influenced by their own personal opinions?  Good luck with that.  Partisanship has never been so extreme. Judge Kavanaugh was never going to receive any democratic support from the day he was nominated.  And republicans in the senate refused to even consider or hold a hearing on President Obama’s last pick, U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Merrick Garland.  New justices taking office are well aware of their partisan supporters. And such awareness certainly affects their view of becoming activists by extending or even creating the law, rather than merely interpreting it as envisioned by our Founding Fathers.

So why term limits?  For a starter, no other democracy in the world gives life tenure to a sitting judge. In fact, you would be hard pressed to find any other profession that makes appointments for life.  Sure, the constitutional scholars back in the 1770s crated lifetime appointments.  But remember that the average life span back then for a U. S. citizen was 35 years.

Chief Justice Roberts endorsed term limits back in 1983 when he stated: “Setting a term of, say, 15 years would ensure that federal judges would not lose all touch with reality through decades of ivory tower existence.”  And that’s an important point.  The court has, too often, been occupied by aging justices who habitually seem disengaged form the world surrounding them. You would think that the court should have dynamism and consistency that a rotation of new judges would bring. It’s hard to breathe new life into a court that bases its make up on actuarial tables and the luck of the draw as to who lives the longest.

Under the current system, a president can only serve in office for eight years yet can appoint a Justice or judge who can stay on the bench for 40 year or more.  One term of say 16 years makes sense.  Poll after poll show that voters want term limits for judges.  With all the controversy in Washington over who ends up on the court, now seems like a good time to consider such a change.

Peace and Justice

Jim Brown

Jim Brown’s syndicated column appears each week in numerous newspapers throughout the nation and on websites worldwide.  You can read all his past columns and see continuing updates at http://www.jimbrownusa.com.  You can also hear Jim’s nationally syndicated radio show each Sunday morning from 9:00 am till 11:00 am Central Time on the Genesis Radio Network, with a live stream at http://www.jimbrownusa.com.

RISK TAKERS STICK IT TO TAXPAYERS IN LOUISIANA!

September 21^st, 2018

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

RISK TAKERS STICK IT TO TAXPAYERS IN LOUISIANA!

It’s been ten years since the financial crisis on Wall Street filtered down through the insurance industry.  Many national insurance companies were under siege, and even though Louisiana is a small state in population, policyholders were affected proportionally at a much greater degree than in most other parts of the country.

Louisiana is a major customer for many insurance companies both nationally and worldwide. It’s not the population that matters. It’s where the risks are located. And there are a number of major companies operating in Louisiana that have significant exposure for insurance purposes.

Just imagine the cost of insuring the offshore oil industry operating along Louisiana’s coastline. How about the nation’s largest chemical industry located up and down the Mississippi River? And there are major risks to insure in the first, third, and fifth largest ports in this country all located in Louisiana. In short, Louisiana is in the top five of states that have the highest industrial insurance risks.

When the “too big to fail” giveaways took place back in 2008, the first major insurance company to be bailed out was the American International Group (AIG), which is the largest insurance conglomerate operating in United States today. AIG has a major presence in Louisiana, with a number of its subsidiary companies selling both property and casualty insurance as well as life insurance. The Federal Reserve System’s bailout of AIG cost taxpayers $85 billion. 

The first thing the AIG execs did after receiving your taxpayer financial infusion was to spend more than $440,000 entertaining their top executives at the posh St. Regis resort in California, including golf, massages, manicures, pedicures, the works. These folks sure know how to show their gratitude. You can imagine the criticism the company received for this junket. But after getting roasted for the taxpayer–funded weeklong retreat, far from learning a lesson, the same top executives thumbed their noses at taxpayers and kept on spending your money.

AIG begged and pleaded for more bailout money, and the federal government graciously complied by giving the faltering company an additional $37.8 billion in taxpayer–financed loans. So how did the top execs respond? They took off on an $86,000 hunting trip to shoot partridge in England. AIG’s philosophy is that they can have a party, but taxpayers end up with a hangover. 

So who is supposed to be watching out for these shenanigans? Who regulates companies like AIG? And why have they been allowed to get away with such outrageous and irresponsible behavior?  Simply put, this is the era of little or no regulation. Keep government off the backs of the private sector. Do not bog down insurance companies with all these regulations that tie their hands. You can trust them with your money…right? Let the free market reign.

In virtually every other state in the country, there is a consumer protection office, often located under the office of the Governor or the Attorney General, that independently checks and audits to be sure that regulated companies are following the law. Such oversight would apply not only to insurance companies, but also to utility companies that have a monopoly operating in certain areas of the state. But again, not in Louisiana. There is no independent check and balance. And the loser, of course, is the policy holder, the ratepayer, and the consumer.

The bottom line is that, thanks to the legislature, you have less protection as an insurance policy holder that just about any other state in America. And while the AIG shenanigans were ignored in Louisiana, the politicians in Washington keep telling us that companies like AIG, for the good of the country, have to be saved. 

The objective in Washington following the 2008 financial crisis was to take care of big banks and insurance companies like AIG. Little concern for homeowners and small investors who suffered big losses.  And here we are today as congress rolls back the fiscal requirements on the same banks and insurance companies that caused the financial crisis and wrecked the economy 10 years ago.

The goal seemed to be to keep billing taxpayers no matter what the cost. For while in the eye of politicians these companies are “too big to fail,” you and I are apparently not too big to fleece.

Peace and Justice

Jim Brown

Jim Brown’s syndicated column appears each week in numerous newspapers throughout the nation and on websites worldwide.  You can read all his past columns and see continuing updates at http://www.jimbrownusa.com. You can also hear Jim’s nationally syndicated radio show each Sunday morning from 9 am till 11:00 am, central time, on the Genesis Radio Network, with a live stream at http://www.jimbrownusa.com.

IN DEFENSE OF DUMB COUNTRY LAWYERS!

September 13^th, 2018

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

IN DEFENSE OF DUMB COUNTRY LAWYERS!

I have a confession to make. And President Trump is not going to like it.  I’m a southern country lawyer. Darn proud of it.  In the president’s words, I may be a “dumb southern country lawyer.”  I just hope the president does not have a sneering contempt for all of us Louisiana lawyers who cut our teeth practicing law in the rural areas of the Bayou State.

If you are unaware of the President’s supposed pot shots at those of us who ply our trade in the more pastoral boroughs of the state, The Washington Post’s Bob Woodard has out a new “tell all” book entitled “Fear: Trump in the White House.”  Woodward you recall was the reporter who dropped the bombshell on the Nixon White House back in 1972, and was portrayed by Robert Redford in the film, “All the President’s Men.”

Woodward writes of many revelations claiming he received insider information from current White House operatives who listen to the President on a daily basis.  And, according to the book, Donald Trump makes it clear there is no love lost between him and his Attorney General Jeff Sessions. He is quoted as saying that:  "This guy is mentally retarded. He's this dumb Southerner. . . . He couldn't even be a one-person country lawyer."

Now I’m reading this to mean that “a one-person country lawyer” is about as simple and elementary as you can get if legal guidance is required.  No real talent or expertise required.  Just a little folksy off the shoulder opinion will do.

Do you have to be an Ivy League barrister to have the knowledge and expertise to make sound and compelling legal decisions? It’s a fact that all the current members of the U.S. Supreme Court attended either Harvard or Yale.  But maybe that’s part of the problem with a number of questionable high court decisions.  As Alabama law professor Ronald Krotoszynski wrote recently, “Are an attorney’s perspectives and capabilities “defined by the three years he or she spent in law school? Shouldn’t professional experience and judgment matter too? “

I graduated from Tulane Law School back in 1966 and moved to the rural town of Ferriday, Louisiana with a population of 5000. There were a few other lawyers in the surrounding parishes, most of who graduated from LSU.  No specialized legalese in these rural courthouses.  Lawyers had to know a good bit about all phases of the law, both criminal and civil.

I handled civil cases ranging from divorces and small claims and stood toe to toe with big shot eastern attorneys representing General Motors and a number of major oil companies.  On the criminal side, I was often appointed by the local judge to represent a cross section of those accused of robberies right up to capital cases. Many readers will remember the notorious Jim Leslie murder case that happened in Baton Rouge back in the 1970s.  Leslie’s killer was gunned down in Concordia Parish and I was appointed to defend this killer. I can tell you the whole sorted story.

Here’s my point.  Country lawyers, particularly in the South, rarely take a narrowly defined career path. Sure, an attorney has to know the law.  But there also is a need to comprehend the practicalities of how the law should be applied and how such application affects and impacts the average citizen.

I’ve come across a number of outstanding lawyers who graduated from Tulane, LSU and Southern law schools. They often have both solid legal aptitude and a good bit of plain old common sense.  Our judges, by and large, stack up with barristers anywhere in the country, and we certainly have the legal talent that is qualified to stand shoulder to shoulder with any justice presently on the U.S. Supreme Court.

So give us a break Mr. President.  We might surprise you down here in the deepest of the deep southern states. Yes, some up north may call us dumb southern country lawyers.  But I have worked with many Louisiana attorneys, particularly in smaller towns, that can go eyeball to eyeball with any Ivey leaguer.  Simply put Mr. President, we wear out southern country lawyer title proudly.

Peace and Justice

Jim Brown

Jim Brown’s syndicated column appears each week in numerous newspapers throughout the nation and on websites worldwide.  You can read all his past columns and see continuing updates at http://www.jimbrownusa.com. You can also hear Jim’s nationally syndicated radio show each Sunday morning from 9 am till 11:00 am, central time, on the Genesis Radio Network, with a live stream at http://www.jimbrownusa.com.

LOUISIANA AND THE TURMOIL IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH!

Thursday, September 6^th, 2018

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

LOUISIANA AND THE TURMOIL IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH!

We all know that there is a crisis in the Catholic Church right now. Allegations of sexually abusive clergy are pouring in worldwide.  Unfortunately, the roots of this terrible tragedy engulfing the Catholic Church have strong ties to the Bayou Sate.  Here's how National Public Radio in Minnesota titled their investigative story on sexual abuse by priests: “It All Began in Lafayette, Louisiana.” And it did, back in 1984.  

Lafayette criminal defense attorney Ray Mouton was contacted back then by the Catholic Dioceseof Lafayette.  Diocese officials badly need a criminal defense attorney who was a Catholic and who would have the church's interest at heart.  Ray felt an obligation to help his church, but quickly learned that criminal charges had been filed against a local cleric, Father Gilbert Gauthe, who was the first Catholic priest in U.S. history to be criminally charged with molesting numerous children throughout South Louisiana. 

Ray had been a longtime friend and political supporter of mine, and he would tell me how this case had taken over his life.  He was quoted in USA Todayrecently in saying that “he waded into his defense of Gauthe with a certain naiveté. As a criminal defense lawyer, he thought he had seen the worst of humanity, but this was his mother church. Gauthe must be an aberration, he reasoned.  "I honestly believed the church was a repository of goodness," Mouton said. "As it turns out, it wasn't.”

Ray was appalled at the growing number of priests involved in the same molestation accusations. He ended up fighting with church officials who opposed any effort to make his evidence public.  "The church fought me at every turn," Ray said. "They wanted me to plead him out and make it go away." 

The case cost Ray dearly.  His marriage ended, his law practice was in ruins and he became an alcoholic.  “I worked, battling the diocese, the American church and the Vatican until I literally burned myself up spiritually, mentally, and physically."   My friend now lives peacefully in southern France.  Ray has written a novel related to his experience called “In God’s House.”He is no longer a Catholic but he does slip into a local church from time to time. "I only go into churches to light candles for all the innocent children whose names I will never know," Ray said, "all those children who have been abused."

A second good Louisiana friend, Jason Berry from New Orleans, has written compellingly about similar problems in the church in his book, “Lead Us Not into Temptation,” published back in 1992.  In his forward for Jason’s book, Father Andrew Greely concludes that sexual abuse may be the greatest scandal in the history of religion in America.  Now this was written some 26 years ago. Yet the disgraces within the Catholic Church would seem to be at an all-time high today.

Jason, who is a devout Catholic, has been one of the most compelling voices in church reform for a number of years. His writings have received numerous awards, both within and out of Catholic circlesincluding the Investigative Reporters and Editors Best Book Award for his book“Render unto Rome: The Secret Life of Money in the Catholic Church.”Simply put, Jason’s view is that the church hierarchy needs purifying, not the faith itself.

Now I’m not Catholic.  But I’m close.  I was married in the Catholic Church, my three daughters were baptized as Catholics, and I have been attending mass for years.  Just two weeks ago, I was the only layman joining 20 Benedictine monks on my personal weeklong retreat at St. Joseph’s Abbey in Covington, Louisiana. My home state is 28% Catholic, and like most Louisianans, I am deeply concerned about this ongoing church crisis.

I want to give accolades to the Ray Moutons, the Jason Berrys and a host of other lay Catholics who have the courage to openly confront the abuse that has been allowed to simmer in Louisiana and throughout the nation. And maybe that’s part of the answer.  More believers who stand by their faith yet are stirred to actively protest.  Hopefully, such committed Catholics are out there in growing numbers.

Peace and Justice

Jim Brown

Jim Brown’s syndicated column appears each week in numerous newspapers throughout the nation and on websites worldwide.  You can read all his past columns and see continuing updates at http://www.jimbrownusa.com. You can also hear Jim’s nationally syndicated radio show each Sunday morning from 9 am till 11:00 am, central time, on the Genesis Radio Network, with a live stream at http://www.jimbrownusa.com.