Finance matters

• Author: Judge Quentin L. Kopp (Ret.)
• Pages: 6-6

THE PRISON OF MENTAL ILLNESS

Decades ago, we tur ned the seri-

ously mentally ill out onto the

streets, so as t o “protect” their rights.

Eventually, we closed down most

of the psych beds. “Breakdow n,”

January/February, page 36, illus-

trates why we are desperat e to fi nd a

place to put the seriously mentally i ll.

For their own safety as wel l as the

safety of others, they c annot be wan-

dering the streets. To make matter s

worse, the system has a djusted to the

new circumsta nces, and now there

is probably no way that we can build

up our bed capacity. We must recall

that the severely mentally il l are not

always the most cooperative folk s.

Jurisdictions such as New

Hampshire must be allowed to do

the best they can under the ci rcum-

stances. The state’s solution is bet-

ter than no solution at all, which

has been the modern-day pra ctice.

Just listen to the howl from the civ il

rights advocates w hen a severely

mentally ill person wa ndering the

streets becomes physica lly threaten-

ing and ends up being shot by police

who are left with no ot her way to

protect themselves and others .

Of cou rse, a ll concer ned must rec-

ogni ze that s olutions better than “ja il

care ” exist , but we mu st be rea listi c

about their implementa tion. Before

the advocates in all their zeal head to

cour t, they should re call t hat the re al

solutio n lies in the legi slatur e and at

the gov ernor’s m ansion, n ot the loc al

or federal cour thouse. Somehow even

the li beral m ind has t o unders tand

that o ne has to live in t he nest t hat he

or she h as built— at least until it is rea-

sonabl y possibl e to remo del the ne st.

William R. Clarke

Richland, Washingt on

NOT IMPLICATED

In reference to the clari fi ca-

tion regarding “A Tale of Two Silver

Markets—and Two Disasters,” Jan-

uary/February, page 72, by Al len

Pusey, I was pleased to see a ret rac-

tion of the false statements in t he

original version of the ar ticle assert-

ing Lamar Hunt had par ticipated in

an e ort to manipulate the soybean

futures market . Unfortunately, the

ABA Journal’s attempt to clarif y the

article leaves the implication th at

Lamar Hunt was an a ctive partici-

pant in the e orts of Nelson Bunker

Hunt and William Herbert Hunt to

manipulate the silver fut ures mar-

ket. Nothing could be fur ther from

the truth. Unlike his brothers , Lamar

Hunt did not use his inheritance t o

“accumulate substanti al amounts of

silver … futures contra cts.” Lamar

Hunt made an investment in silver

futures in 1979. However, in the con-

text of his net wort h—the vast bulk

of which was not derived from a n

“inheritance”—this inves tment could

hardly be chara cterized as “sub-

stantial.” More importantly, Lama r

Hunt’s silver futures investment did

not involve any of the high-leverage

borrowing, deliveries or a ny other

activities t he article states his broth-

ers used to infl ate the value of their

holdings. Unlike his brothers, Lam ar

Hunt was never “on the way to bank-

ruptcy” at any ti me.

Unlike his brothers, Lama r Hunt

was never charged w ith any wrong-

doing by the Commodities Future

Trading Commission Enforcement

Division in connect ion with his sil-

ver investments. Lamar Hunt wa s

named as a defendant in a civ il suit

fi led by the Peruvian silver cartel

Minpeco, and a jury did fi nd him

and his brothers liable for dam-

ages in that case . I know this part

of the story becaus e my partner

Jim Seigfreid and I played roles in

the post-trial proc eedings in that

case. We were all pleased when U.S.

District Judge Morris La sker entered

his order vacating the jur y’s verdict

against Lamar Hunt.

Paul G. Schepers

Kansas City, Missouri

FINANCE MATTERS

I was disgust ed to learn of the

unprofessional enlargement of litiga-

tion fi nancing corporations featured

in “Other People’s Money,” December,

page 54. Once upon a time, there

was a legal doctr ine called cham-

perty and maint enance. Bargaining

to aid in carr ying on prosecution or

defense of a suit in consideration of

a share of the result was a v iolation

of rules of professional conduct. Not

now. Your article exp oses the unlaw-

ful nature of law yers intermeddling

in lawsuits for fi nancial gain wit hout

sanction from state ba r associations

or criminal prose cutors—or judges.

It’s yet another degradation of my

profession.

Judge Quentin L. Kop p (Ret.)

San Francisco

CLARIFICATION

“A Tale of Two Silver Markets—and

Two Disasters,” January/February,

page 72, included a mention of

Lamar Hunt. Although L amar Hunt

was involved in substantia l silver

market investments wit h his broth-

ers, he was not among Hunt fam-

ily members involved in the soybean

investments penalize d by regulators.

The implication was unintentional.

The Jour nal regr ets the oversight.

THE LAWYER’S MAGAZINEJANUARY-FEBRUARY 2019

ROSS AWARD WINNER

‘GUARDIANS OF THE SIXTH AMENDMENT’

THE COHEN QUESTION

SHOULD YOU TAPE YOUR CLIENTS?

BOOKING CLIENTS

FROM LAWYER TO LITERARY AGENT

Prisons and jails are

being used to house

mental health patients

who’ve committed

no crimes — and it’s

perfectly legal

Break

down

Letters

6 || ABA JOURNAL APRIL 2019

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