Reflections of a Boston Lawyer

Yesterday's terrorist attacks in Paris especially hit home for Americans because Paris is such a beloved Western city.  France has been an ally of the United States throughout our history, and has been the victim of brutality in recent memory.  Although France often is the undeserving subject of tasteless jokes, American culture has been enriched in countless ways by French music, art, literature, film, architecture, medicine, philosophy, fashion, food, wine, and language.  Our nation's most important and most beautiful statue, inviting the world's downtrodden to our shores, was a gift from France and stands as a symbol of our mutual allegiance.  It is no wonder, then, that the brutal killings at the hands of evil extremists would strike Americans at our very core. Yet terrorism is a daily occurrence in many places.  As we mourn the victims of the Paris attacks (as we should), we should also remember those who have died or been wounded in other countries, especially in th

Even in 2015, I have friends who don't understand why I'm on Facebook or Twitter.  Of course, like me, they were born more than half a century ago, so I can cut them some slack.  And they don't have jobs that might benefit from any kind of Internet presence.  But for anyone out there who still doesn't get it, it's not hard to come up with examples of how social media can add joy to one's life, and maybe even enhance one's business or career. Tonight, for example.  I'm sitting at my computer listening to an old Boz Scaggs album over iTunes.  I have the LP somewhere in my basement, but nothing to play it on, so I haven't heard it in years.  And the Boz Scaggs concert I went to in 1980 was too loud to hear his singing.  But I digress. With Boz (or rather, Apple) providing the soundtrack, I go onto Facebook and see the following: a picture of my cousin's grandson or granddaughter at his or her wedding (I'm not clear on which belongs to him, t

Sometimes I enjoy a film so much that I go back and read the book from whence it came.  One such film is " Being There ," based on the novel of the same name by Jerzey Kosinski and featuring outstanding performances by Peter Sellers and Shirley MacLaine.  It is the story of Chance the gardener (a/k/a Chauncey Gardiner), a dim-witted household servant living on his wealthy benefactor's estate near Washington, D.C.  After his benefactor's death, Chance is discovered in his quarters and mistaken for a well-heeled, intelligent man himself.  What little Chance understands about the outside world he learned from television, and now having to leave the only home he ever knew, he ventures into the unknown world, where his simple remarks are comically misinterpreted as wise metaphors about life.  Through a series of chance encounters and false impressions, he rises from obscurity to television celebrity and ultimately to consideration as a potential candidate for Presidency o

The musical selection this evening is "Moondance" by Van Morrison.  Not just the song, but the album.  I'm listening to it on the new iTunes service. It's good, of course. I discovered Van when I was a sophomore in college, circa 1973.  My favorite album then was "Hardnose the Highway," one of his lesser known.  To me, it was magical.  Morrison always seemed to have a unique blend of soul and mysticism.  Snow in San Anselmo, indeed.  I used to put in on my stereo at bedtime to help me get to sleep.  (Now iTunes is playing "Caravan."  Such a classic.) Why is it that my fondest memories of music are from my teens and twenties?  And why does music conjure up so many special evenings and special relationships?  There was a depth to our experience then that seems to have given ground to the constant bombardment of bits and bytes through today's technology and social media.  We had no texting, no emailing, no messaging, no snap chatting, no t.v

I do not pretend to be a constitutional scholar, although I have known several, and I enjoy reading about the workings and history of the Supreme Court.  So what I am about to say are the views of a professional lawyer but amateur constitutionalist. This morning I read the majority decision and Chief Justice Roberts' dissenting opinion in the same-sex marriage case ( Obergefell v. Hodges ).   The media accounts do not do either opinion justice.  Justice Kennedy's majority opinion is an elegant articulation of constitutional principles of due process and equal protection, as well as a profound defense of same-sex marriage.  Chief Justice Roberts' opinion is a forceful argument for judicial restraint, particularly in the field of constitutional law.  The dissenting opinions of the other conservative justices also seek to place limits on the Court's role in reviewing challenges to state action. While the media is appropriately focused on the stunning and, for many of u