The Latin Beat

January 3, 2012

I like the Latin culture.  I have enjoyed time in Chile and have travelled to Peru, Columbia, Ecuador and South Beach.  For years, I did police seminars in Miami and Miami Beach and was a regular at the outdoor restaurants on Ocean Drive.  Seems to me the ambience for Latin culture is as great in South Beach as in Latin America. 

Unfortunately, today’s title reference is not to the great Latin culture but to the dead language, Latin. 

Some have asked what the blog title, OYEZ means.  It comes from the Latin word “audire” which in French became “oir” which both mean “hear”.  It became the call to public meetings and courts similar to “Hear Ye, Hear Ye”.  The U. S. Supreme Court continues the tradition with the “Oyez, Oyez” call that the Court is coming to order. 

In fact, the Chicago Kent Law School has compiled all oral arguments of the Supreme Court since recording at the Court began in 1955 in a project entitled, The Oyez Project.  My 1981 oral argument is found at http://www.oyez.org/cases/1980-1989/1981/1981_80_1681, a case we won unanimously. I wrote and defended an ordinance that effectively banned the retail sale of drug paraphernalia (even though the items themselves are legal) and the opinion effectively closed “head shops” in the USA.

 In a second case, my co-counsel argued for an expansion of the Federal Rules of Evidence to allow the conversations of a police officer involved in a shooting death to her psycho-therapist be privileged.  That argument is found at http://www.oyez.org/cases/1990-1999/1995/1995_95_266.  The Court ruled 7-2 in our favor and said that “those who serve and protect should be protected.”  

The other Latin term that has become my mantra is “pro bono”.  This is a Latin phrase more formally stated as “pro bono publico” and means professional services dispensed on a voluntary basis for the public good at no cost to the recipient.  Many state bar associations require attorneys to provide a minimum amount of free services. 

I have taken the “publico” literally and applied it to the greater public good..  In law school, students were required to work with Legal Aid to assist those in need.  Pro bono generally is thought of as assisting the needy. This is not my calling. 

Upon semi- retirement in 2008, I determined to provide free services for the public good and have never billed an hour or received a W-2 since then.  I have reported over 800 hours a year to the Florida Bar for pro bono services.  Most of the hours were spent in the effort to incorporate our region of about 20,000 residents as a municipality.  It required meeting twice a week and evening citizen meetings for 27 months, but more than that, tremendous hours of research in drafting and debating charter provisions, meeting with state and local elected officials, dealing with lobbyists and putting together a campaign.

The work was a great retirement transition.  Ultimately the citizens preferred the comfort of the way things are to forging forward with a “contract city” as we envisioned. See:  http://www.lwrincorporation.com/documents.html 

 I now serve, with pay waived, as an elected “Supervisor” for our local taxing district and also work with the Chamber of Commerce to promote local businesses. I was a Political Science major and had run for state office in Ohio in 1972 and worked for many campaigns since then.  I remain active in political matters and assist some of the local campaigns. I am becoming more active in Hearing Loss Association endeavors and hope to contribute my skills as needed.  I serve on several 501 (c) 3 Boards as well as law enforcement related Boards of Directors. 

I love my golf and family but the need to offer pro bono service is something I cannot give up despite the hearing modifications necessary to do this.