How Should We Look At Things?

When I think about the process of the law as presented by the Dick Scruggs Matter I wonder what it is I am to do? What should a reasonable person bring to the situation? Should I be one of those who takes pleasure in possibility that someone is in trouble? Should I become a defender of those who are in trouble? Should I just be an observer reporting what interests me about the situation. Should I be a commentator with a bias?

None of these approaches seems right to me. If I take a side I think I want it to be the side of souls of those who are involved in the the situation whether they be the souls of the defendants, the representatives of the government, the witnesses who are agents for the government, the witnesses who have gone to the side of the government and who are now telling things about friends, judges who have become government agents, witness who are trying to save themselves and in doing so are rationalizing that the hurt they bring to others is permitted and righteous. No, I want to be on the side of the souls which are being refined as a result of the involvements of those who are in the care of those souls.

Does this seem odd to you? I suppose it does.

Today, I have been thinking about the souls of those who seem to be feeling loss because Judge Vinson dismissed the "indictment" against Dick Scruggs in the District Court for the Northern District of Alabama. The representatives of these souls are angry. They say the judge has helped out a "rich, white guy." In the core of their beings they do not mean what they say. Or if they do, they should not.

If they have a complaint about Judge Vinson's efforts they should try to show where Judge Vinson went wrong. Personally, I do not think Judge Vinson's decision was wrong. It may be something a person does not like because he wants Dick Scruggs to be punished for being what he is, but as far as the law is concerned I do not think the judge was wrong. If he was, well, tell me so and explain it. My conclusions about things change in light of reason, in light of truth. If I am loyal to anything, I hope I am loyal to the law as it is applied to the facts.

The Justice System? Justice or War?

The case against Dick Scruggs in Alabama was dismissed yesterday. The Order can be found here. One of the main commentators in these matters said this about the decision:

UPDATE: I read it, and all I can say is thank goodness, it has been a long time coming -- finally, a case where the criminal justice system doesn't railroad a famous, rich, white guy! Famous rich friends of Dickie Scruggs -- it's party time!

This cynical comment tells us something about a lawyer's view of the law, or at least the lawyer commentator's view of the law. His side lost. His enemy won.

So how to address the work of Judge Vinson? Make fun of it. Tell people Judge Vinson is a partisan for Dick Scruggs. The comment does not show care or respect for law. It also shows great disrespect for Judge Vinson.

The commentator did not address the issues Judge Vinson decided and the law was applied by Judge Vinson as to the issues and the facts pertaining to the issues. Instead he simply makes an ad hominum attack upon Judge Vinson's work.

A true lawyer would comment on the law not upon personalities. What is at stake in these proceedings is not winners and losers but the law. Unless of course law is not about law but instead is simply another forum for war.