During the 2020 election campaign, there has been a lot of discussion about socialism. Most of that debate has been uninformed or misinformed. Definition of Socialism Socialism is “the political and economic theory where the means of production, distribution, and exchange, are owned and regulated by the government -- the ‘collective.’” “Socialism is based upon economic … Continue reading What is Socialism?
The Case of the Bruised Hand I conducted a mandatory settlement conference in a civil case where a woman sued a restaurant chain for $25,000. She couldn’t find a lawyer to take her case, and so she represented herself. That is always a tip-off as to the frivolous nature a case. She felt she was entitled … Continue reading Amusing Frivolous Lawsuits
Albert Einstein summarized: “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” Miracles follow faith. Those who have faith see the miracles all around us. We are surrounded by the wonderous miracles of nature. The miracles of … Continue reading The Wondrous Miracles of Nature
We have outstanding full-time certified court interpreters in Orange County. Our staff interpreters are primarily Spanish and Vietnamese. Orange County has a wonderfully diverse population. I regularly have certified on-call interpreters in my court who speak Mandarin, Persian, Arabic, Russian, Romanian, Samoan, Tongan, Tagalog, and Sign Language. It is very difficult to become certified as a court … Continue reading “Unpredictable” and “Problem” Court Interpreters
Things I had to unlearn I am frustrated by how many things I have had to unlearn over the years. There is so much information that I thought was true, but was not. For example, I mislearned in elementary school that honest George Washington confessed to chopping down the family cherry tree. I mislearned in college … Continue reading The Bald Eagle and the Great Seal
I was presiding over my heavy high-volume misdemeanor arraignment calendar, handling around 150 criminal cases each morning. (According to our computers, I deal with 25,000-30,000 cases each year. A few judges call me "Big Lots," for "high volume, big discounts.") I called an assault and battery case. The man standing in front of me looked very … Continue reading U of U Football Player vs. BYU Judge
In Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll presented an insightful dialogue between Alice and the smiling Cheshire Cat. (My friends nicknamed me “Cheshire” because I resemble the Cheshire Cat in several ways, especially the perpetual grin.) “Alice was a little startled by seeing the big Cheshire Cat sitting on a bough of a tree a … Continue reading Alice and the Cheshire Cat
Albert Einstein observed: "There are only two ways to live your life. One is a though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle." People of faith live in a world filled with wondrous miracles. Sadly, agnostics and atheists, live in a dreary world devoid of miracles. There are an infinite … Continue reading Heavenly Father and Jesus are Gods of Miracles
I am continually amazed at how often people make bad situations worse. We see this very often when people flee the scene of an accident, evade a police officer, or fail to show up for their traffic tickets. I was presiding over a misdemeanor jury trial. The defendant was charged with misdemeanor domestic violence, violation of … Continue reading Another Entertaining Dumb Criminal Makes Matters Much Worse
As a rookie D.A. I was assigned to West Court in Westminster, California. (Coincidentally, that is also where I began my judicial career.) The Stanton Police Chief personally invited me to go on a police ride along with his officers. Stanton had a small underfunded, understaffed, underpaid, and under-equipped police department. (A few years later, … Continue reading My One and Only Hair-raising Police Ride Along
The London Edition 