Pioneer in law

• Author: Judge Kelvin D. Filer
• Pages: 6-6

PIONEER IN LAW

“A Birth and Many

Firsts,” April, page 12,

was an excellent ar ticle on

Yvonne Brathwaite Burke,

although space did not

really allow you to elabo -

rate on all the many fi rsts

that she has to her name.

She is one of the all-time

trailblazers for women

of color in the law. I was

particula rly proud that,

while she was serv ing as

a member of the Board of

Supervisors of the C ounty

of Los Angeles, she agre ed

to swear me in as a L os

Angeles Superior Court

judge in 2002!

Judge Kelvin D. Filer

Los Angeles

CHANGING NUANCES

OF GRAMMAR

In reference to “Inclusive

Legal Writing,” April, page

22: As a former young

fogey educated in the

1980s, I must admit that I

resisted gender-inclusive

language . Gender-inclusive

language seemed awk-

ward and inelegant. But

taste is a rea l thing—and it

does change. Now it is the

gender-exclusionary lan-

guage that obtrudes l ike an

infl amed digit.

Christopher Smith

Warsaw, Poland

PETS AND POLICE

Concerning “Pet Threat,”

April, page 16, the argu-

ment is like that for the

criminal exclusiona ry rule:

People object to the prin-

ciple of it, arguing (cor-

rectly) that there is no

“fairness” in let ting clearly

guilty people go fre e just

because a cop makes a

mistake (intentionally or

unintent ionally).

The exclusionary rule

only protects gu ilty peo-

ple, right? If you’re guilty

and the cops illegally

search you, your remedy

is exclusion. But what if

you are innocent and the

cops illegally sea rch you?

No remedy at all, except

you can sue the o cer. But

juries are notorious for

refusing to compensate

people for being the vic-

tims of illegal sea rches.

So, since juries won’t

punish cops who vio-

late a person’s Fourth

Amendment rights in a

civil lawsuit, t he only way

to motivate the cops to fol-

low the Constitution is to

make sure they know that

evidence they seize illeg ally

will not be usable in cour t.

Same thing here: This is all

about motivation. When

departments star t having

to cut back on chief sala-

ries and expense a ccounts

because their ran k-and-

fi le cops are psychologi-

cally incapable of doing

their jobs correctly—then,

just maybe, they wil l start

training them properly.

David W. Simon

San Bernardino,

California

LANGUAG E, LAN GUAGE

In regard to “Fighting

Words,” April, page 18,

gross abuse of profane lan-

guage refl ects badly on t he

person who is abusing the

language, and it al so will

cause doors of opportunit y

to slam. The command of

the English language a nd

polite manners coupled

with emotional control

never go out of style.

Felici a Mercer

Colorado Spri ngs,

Colorado

SEPARATION OF POWERS

... AND ARTICLES

I was bemused by the

juxtaposition of AB A

President Hilarie Bass’

very fi ne message, “The

Balance of Power,” April

page 8, and the article

“DOJ Rescinds Guidance

on Excessive Court F ines

and Fees,” page 9. Bass’

message encou rages attor-

neys to do whatever we can

to help enhance the sepa-

ration of powers and fed-

eralism, lamenting, for

example, the imbalance

caused when the executive

branch circumvents loca l

courts by slashi ng judges’

pay.

The facing article, how-

ever, asserts “U.S. Attor ney

General Je Sessions

revoked Obama-era gu id-

ance warning loca l courts

… .” The slant of this article

is that it was horrendous

to roll back the “war n-

ing,” but perhaps the exec-

utive branch should not

issue threatening wa rn-

ings to local cour ts in the

fi rst place. Federalism and

the separation of powers

should be considered fi rst.

While some may feel the

attorney general’s rescis-

sion “dealt a blow to civil

rights,” the rescission also

landed a punch for the sep-

aration of powers and the

concept of federalism.

It is not the job of the

DOJ to “embarrass” stat e

courts, contra ry to the

article’s contention. The

attorney general’s rescis-

sion rectifi ed an overreach,

thus rebalancing the sepa-

ration of powers and fed-

eralism. The positioning of

the second article unnec -

essarily di minished the

impact of the president’s

message.

Ronald F. Larson

Sun City, Arizona

THE LAWYER’S MAGAZINEAPRIL 2018

THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH

PUSHES THE BOUNDARIES

OF THE SEPARATION

OF POWERS

k

SCOTUS EYES GERRYMANDERING

k

FEMALE HUMAN RIGHTS LAWYERS

k

FASTCASE AND CHILL

k

MIDYEAR MEETING NEWS

CORRECTIONS

“Talk Isn’t Cheap,” May, page 18, should have reported that Oklahoma Solicitor

General Mithun Mansingh ani represented that state and 10 others as petit ioners,

alongside telecommunications companies , in a dispute over prison phone rates.

“Side Hustle,” May, page 38, should have reported that Kevin Han re ceived a deliv-

ery order from a senior associ ate, Nina Lacher’s Instagram receive s more than 300,000

“impressions” per week, and Todd P. Graves received a job o er from a New York City

fi r m. Graves also should have been quoted as saying: “There are s ome days I can work

out there and be on the phone with clients in New York, and then I go outside and move

cattle and then go back on the phone.”

“Legal Prey,” May, page 52, should have identifi ed Vanessa Stine as a sta  attorney at

Friends of Farmworkers. Her Equal Justice Works fellowship ran fr om 2014 to 2016.

“New School,” April, page 36, mista kenly implies that the San Francisco A rmative

Litigation Project was re cently founded. The clinic, a collaboration between Yale Law

School and the San Francisc o City Attorney’s O ce, opened in D ecember 2006. The

article also should have repor ted that the state court ru ling that resulted in a $1.1 bil-

lion judgment against lead-paint ma nufacturers occurred in 2013.

The Jour nal regre ts the errors.

Letters

6 || ABA JOURNAL JUNE 2018