The Thirtieth Kenneth J. Hodson Lecture on Criminal Law

• Author: Kenneth J. Hodson
• Pages: 07

THE THIRTIETH KENNETH J. HODSON LECTURE ON CRIMINAL LAW1

THE HONORABLE MARC F. RACICOT, FORMER GOVERNOR OF MONTANA2

Thank you very much and good morning to all of you. I'm delighted to be here this morning, with a little trepidation, I would have to admit. It's my great hope that we might have an opportunity to have some conversation and discussion as we proceed through the morning so that I might be responsive to the issues or thoughts that you think are relevant and important.

As any good trial lawyer knows, of course, you need to set the record straight from the very beginning. In his introductory remarks, Lieutenant Colonel Garrett3 pointed out that I participated in basketball throughout my youth, and that on one occasion I set a record for the number of assists tabulated at the small school that I attended in Montana. I couldn't shoot, and as a consequence of that, I had no other options. My father was my basketball coach, both in high school and college. In fact, some people said that the only reason I played was because my father was the coach. He used to tell me, "Marc, just remember, you're not big, but you're slow."

My father was entirely correct. What he was suggesting was something that I had reaffirmed when I was here at The Judge Advocate General's School twenty-nine years ago, not in this particular building, but on the University of Virginia campus itself, attending the 69th Judge Advocate Basic Course. That is, in the end, teamwork, being a part of a mission

with others, being engaged in conflicts that allow for the best instincts and efforts of those that you have the opportunity to share time and effort with, ultimately end up making a very critical difference in whether or not you're capable of achieving success.

I need to start with a preface this morning. The context within which remarks are offered to you, or thoughts or intuitions are provided, has a great deal to do with a person's personal history. Consequently, I want to share a little bit of that with all of you this morning so that you can place my thoughts in their proper context.

I need to tell you first of all that I consider it a very high privilege and great honor to be invited to participate in the Hodson Lecture series. I, of

course, attended the second lecture in the fall of 1973. Colonel Squires4 and I were remembering earlier, although quite frankly we didn't have an independent recollection of everything that occurred during those days, that we were both a part of the same basic class, the 69th basic class from August to October 1973. That was almost twenty-nine years ago. How time flies when you're having fun!

Colonel John J. Douglass5 was the Commandant of the JAG School at that point. There are also others in attendance here today that were at the JAG School then. Major Gilligan6 was one of the professors, as were Captains Lederer7 and Imwinkleried,8 all part of a brilliant faculty that was preparing us before we were dispatched into our various different venues to engage in the practice of law in the United States Army. Their aim was to ensure that we became the best Army lawyers that we could possibly be. I must tell you that I have been grateful for that experience, for their patience and their scholarship, virtually every single day for the past twenty-nine years.

I was not always grateful, however, for the exercise of discretion by then Major William Suter,9 who was making all of the assignments and dispatching us to various parts of the world. I can remember graduating from law school, and two days later, orders were delivered to my home. I can remember with great clarity and precision my first conversation with Major Suter and asking him what I was supposed to do. He said, "Well, report for duty, of course." I responded, "But I wasn't scheduled to go until August." And he said, "Well, that's the way things work sometimes, isn't it?"

So I did, in fact, report for duty. Major Suter sent me to West Germany, and Colonel Charles Taylor, my first Staff Judge Advocate, assigned me to the Criminal Law Division, although that was not what I anticipated. Captain Daniel T. Brailsford, with whom I had a conversation just a few

days ago, made me a prosecutor. Those experiences shaped my life profoundly and forever. I'm absolutely delighted that I get the opportunity to share with you some of the thoughts gathered throughout these last twenty-nine years, beginning with the opportunity and privilege of being exposed to the teaching and scholarship here at The Judge Advocate General's School.

I was raised in a very small town in northwestern Montana and never envisioned that I would be this far away from home. I've spent virtually all of my life, with the exception of my military service in West Germany, in the state of Montana, up until a year and a half ago. There were, and still are, seven children in my family. I was then, and as I realize now, still am, the oldest of those seven children. There were six boys and one girl. Two of them were adopted. My brother Philip was Korean, and the only girl of that brood, my sister Aimee, was also adopted. My father, as I mentioned, was a high school basketball coach, and my mother, without any military training whatsoever, was in command and control of the household from the very beginning.

We grew up in a small house on Larch Street, where it seemed as if there were parents virtually everywhere, throughout the entire neighborhood that we grew up in. We had the benefit, I think, of feeling very secure and very safe, growing up in what we perceived to be a very stable rural setting. I am the son of a Marine and World War II veteran. Although he never confessed to it, I'm certain that he was terribly disappointed that I ended up being an officer in the United States Army, rather than in the United States Marine Corps.

With that background, let me share a few thoughts with you. It's my hope that they are relevant, which was one of the things that Major Gilligan constantly focused upon when we were in his charge here at the JAG School.

I've learned these lessons of relevance so many different times. The most recent of which occurred the last week that I was serving in office in the State of Montana. I went to read to a third grade class, and there was a little girl who had been called upon to make a presentation on the human body. I arrived, uncharacteristically, early. This was a very serious assignment that she had received. You could tell by all the outward signs. She was dressed in, I believe, one of her finest dresses and she had her hair curled and with ribbons. She had a very stern countenance, a pointer, and

she had prepared, allegedly, a diagram of the human body, hanging right behind her.

She began her discussion by saying, "There are three parts of the human body. The first part is the head, and that's where the brain is, if any," which I took probably to be an editorial comment by one of her parents, at some point. Then she said, "The second part is the chest, and that's where the heart is." Finally she mentioned, "The third part is the stomach, and that's where the bowels are, and there are five bowels, A, E, I, O, and

U." It made me realize once again, that it's very important to have information, but it's just as important to provide it in a relevant and connected context. It's my hope to live up to those expectations this morning.

I reported for duty in West Germany, to be of service in a...