Dylan's judgment on judges: power and greed and corruptible seed seem to be all that there is.

• Author: Zornow, David M.
• Position: Bob Dylan and the Law

Introduction Indictment A. Summary of Allegations B. Background C. Count One: Abuse of Power D. Count Two: Greed E. Count Three: Corruptible Seed F. Conclusion Brady Letter INTRODUCTION

I am neither an academic nor a life-long Dylan fan. I am a practicing lawyer (white-collar criminal defense) and a recent convert to the Dylan obsession (after having watched Martin Scorseses's 2005 documentary No Direction Home). But like many late-in-life converts, I have fallen hard (nearly twenty concerts since 2006). When Professor Bruce Green (a former colleague in the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York) indulged my mania by inviting me to participate in Fordham Law School's conference, Dylan and the Law, I gravitated toward exploring Dylan's view of the judge. I had the impression that judges and "judge-like" characters popped up frequently in Dylan's songs. I was right about that, but on closer examination I was unprepared for Dylan's unremittingly negative portrayal of the most iconic figure in our justice system. Indeed, it struck me that one way to capture this bleak landscape would be to style my paper in the form of an "Indictment" against judges brought by Bob Dylan, in the role of prosecutor. What follows is that "Indictment" (and an accompanying Brady letter). I am not sure this piece fully explains why Dylan relegates judges to such monochromatic tones, when so much of his work captures life's complexity, nuance, and odd juxtapositions. Perhaps the answer lies in Dylan's preoccupation with the border between the sacred and the profane, between God on one side and the judge (as the ultimate embodiment of civil society) on the other--the gray area where Dylan performs his magic.

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE OLD WEIRD AMERICA (FORDHAM DIVISION)

THE OLD WEIRD AMERICA,

Plaintiff,

Hon. Bruce A. Green

-against-

THE JUDGES,

Sefendants.

INDICTMENT

1. Summary of Allegations

   The Grand Jury alleges as follows: 1. The United States Attorney, through Special Assistant United States Attorney Bob Dylan, a/k/a Robert Allen Zimmerman, a/k/a Zimmy, (1)

   2. brings this indictment against The Judges, who over the generations repeatedly have failed to meet their obligations to dispense justice. Indeed, it can be said of The Judges:

   ... God is in His heaven. And we all want what's his But power and greed and corruptible seed Seem to be all that there is (2) In this Indictment, the grand jury alleges various overt acts of misuse of power, greed and corruptible seed.

2. Background

   3. Judges are empowered by society and by our laws to impose their judgments on their fellow man, but it should be recognized at the outset that no man should relish judging another. "Don't wanna judge nobody, don't wanna be judged." (3) The righteous know well the dangers of rendering judgments, such as the lover who is "true, like ice, like fire" and "knows too much to argue or to judge." (4)

   4. In this context, judges have a special responsibility to exercise their powers benevolently, as though they were being judged themselves. The evidence shows, however, that judges repeatedly fail to do so. Instead, they hold themselves apart from the rest of us, cloistered together.

   I glanced into the chamber where the judges were talking Darkness was everywhere, it smelled like a tomb. (5) 5. Too often judges manifest bias and prejudice instead of righteousness and fairness.

   The judge, he holds a grudge He's gonna call on you But he's badly built And he walks on stilts Watch out he don't fall on you. (6) AS a result, too often we must:

   Ring them bells for the blind and the deaf Ring them bells for all of us who are left Ring them bells for the chosen few Who will judge the many when the game is through. (7) 6. As set forth in the counts below, judges exalt power, greed, and corruptible seed at the expense of justice, and so "judges will haunt you." (8)

3. Count One: Abuse of Power

   (Violation of Title 18, Dylan Code, [section] 1)

   7. Judges revel in their power. At the beginning of any court proceeding, a clerk announces the judge with great fanfare:

   The Judge is coming in, everybody rise, Lift up your eyes. (9) 8. Judges likewise have the power to compel. "I was only following instructions when the...