BurtLaw on Law and Love II

BurtLaw on Law and Love II
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Announcement. We've finally gotten around to launching our new webzine/blawg: BurtLaw's The Daily Judge:

It is not an online newspaper and is not affiliated with or intended to be mistaken for any existing or previously-existing newspaper or journal. Rather, it is a so-called "blawg," a law-related personal "web log" or "blog," one with a subjective, idiosyncratic, and eccentric sociological and social-psychological slant that focuses not on the latest judicial decisions of supposed great importance but on a) the institution of judge in the United States and in other countries throughout the world, b) the judicial office and role, c) judicial personalities, d) the great common law tradition of judging as practiced here and throughout the world, e) judges as judges, f) judges as ordinary people with the usual mix of virtues and flaws, etc. We link to newspapers and other sources in order to alert the reader to ideas, articles, stories, speeches, law books, literary works and other things about "judges" that have interested us and that may interest the reader.

We don't promote our blawgs, but readers of this blog and of our affiliated political opinion blog, BurtonHanson.Com, may be interested in it. We don't think there is another blawg quite like it.

Luke & Laura find love in a sleazy motel -- the lost transcripts! One never knows where love will blossom. Luke & Laura are probably the greatest lovers in soap opera history, and "it all began," as we say in the business,

in a "cheap motel." Here's a link to an unexpurgated transcript. Last time I tuned in, it looked to me like Luke and Laura were going to get together again and store up some more memories against the passing time. And why not? (Episode guide)

Romance, by Joseph Conrad & Ford Madox Ford - the ending:

"It takes long enough to realize that someone is dead at a distance. I had done that. But how long, how long it needs to know that the life of your heart has come back from the dead. For years afterwards I could not bear to have her out of my sight.

"Of our first meeting in London all I remember is a speechlessness that was like the awed hesitation of our overtried souls before the greatness of a change from the verge of despair to the opening of a supreme joy. The whole world, the whole of life, with her return, had changed all around me; it enveloped me, it enfolded me so lightly as not to be felt, so suddenly as not to be believed in, so completely that that whole meeting was an embrace, so softly that at last it lapsed into a sense of rest that was like the fall of a beneficent and welcome death.

"For suffering is the lot of man, but not inevitable failure or worthless despair which is without end -- suffering, the mark of manhood, which bears within its pain a hope of felicity like a jewel set in iron....

"Her first words were: 'You broke our compact. You went away from me whilst I was sleeping.' Only the deepness of her reproach revealed the depth of her love, and the suffering she too had endured to reach a union that was to be without end -- and to forgive.

"And, looking back, we see Romance -- that subtle thing that is mirage -- that is life. It is the goodness of the years we have lived through, of the old time when we did this or that, when we dwelt here or there. Looking back, it seems a wonderful enough thing that I who am this, and she who is that, commencing so far away a life that, after such sufferings borne together and apart, ended so tranquilly there in a world so stable -- that she and I should have passed through so much, good chance and evil chance, sad hours and joyful, all lived down and swept away into the little heap of dust that is life. That, too, is Romance!"

Bush Resumes Power From Cheney After Two-hour Getaway With First Lady

Sat Jun 29,5:03 PM ET

WASHINGTON (BurtLaw) - George W. Bush transferred the powers of the Presidency to Vice President Richard "Dick" Cheney for more than two hours on Saturday while getting some much-needed "R&R" with the First Lady, Laura Bush, the White House said. The development occurred at the end of a busy week during which Mr. Bush promoted the values of strenuous physical activity in ensuring the mental and physical fitness needed by Americans in order to successfully wage war on terrorism ("Every little bit of fitness counts"). White House spokesman Ari Fleischer refused to provide details of the getaway other than to say that at 1:09 p.m. EDT, Bush invoked the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which provides for the voluntary transfer of power when the president is unable to discharge his duties. "The power of the Presidency was returned to President Bush at 3:24 p.m.," Fleischer said in a statement. It was only the second time in U.S. history that section 3 of the amendment was invoked. "The President says he feels 'great' and will resume his normal routine at Camp David," Fleischer said. Unidentified sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the President and Mrs. Bush were spotted getting out of the back seat of the Presidential limousine, walking quickly to a four-door Chevrolet sedan, and driving to a nearby motel. The motel is one that enjoys a reputation among Washington insiders as an ideal place for a short break ("if only a much-needed nap") because of its policy of respecting the privacy of its guests, because its rooms may be rented by the hour, and because of its low rates, which are appreciated by people getting by on government salaries. Mrs. Bush, wearing sunglasses, briefly entered the motel's office and signed in under an assumed, fictional name ("Victoria S."), after which the President joined her in entering one of the units. Secret Service agents were nowhere in sight. Later, upon emerging from the motel room, the President, wearing a light blue polo shirt with Presidential pens in the pocket, appeared refreshed and in good spirits, flashing a broad grin and whistling Afternoon Delight, an obscure song made popular around 20 years ago by the Starlight Vocal Band. (BRH 06.29.2002)

What's sexy & what's not - part one. I don't think the images of women wearing the silly stuff marketed by companies like Frederick's of Hollywood are particularly sexy (although I confess when I was in junior high school I used to enjoy looking at Frederick's ads in the movie magazines in the hometown library, magazines which I typically inserted inside Life or Time so Nina Brown, the librarian, wouldn't report back to my mother that I was wasting my time). Anyhow, I think the outfit "Lindsay" was wearing as she comforted "Bobby" on the episode of The Practice airing 02.10.2002 was much sexier -- midnight blue silk pajamas, the sort you might have seen a leading woman wearing in a 1940's era movie before the fadeout that typically was succeeded by an image of the leading man smoking a cigarette. It's a BurtLaw Rule of Love and Law: Revealing less sometimes provokes more.

The Love Calculator. When I was in high school there were a number of mathematical formulae one could use to determine one's compatibility with a classmate of the opposing gender. Thanks to The Love Calculator, one can now get a

quick calculation presumably using one of those old time-tested formulae. The instructions for this one are to type in your full first and last name and the full first and last name of the person in whom you're interested.

Do Hilda & Rumpole love each other? "This relationship is the cause for some debate in the Law in the Lounge households. We took a straw poll - do Hilda and Rumpole really love each other? The result: the lawyers thought yes, the non-lawyers were less sure. What does this say? Probably only that the lawyers amongst us are more sympathetic to Hilda and Horace's dysfunctional marriage...." More (Law in the Lounge, Law4U.Com).

The judge, his secretary & her hooker friend. As a sort of Valentine's Day cautionary tale about the perils of luv, we'd like to introduce you to Judge Bruce ("Turn 'em Loose Bruce") Dobbs, his "administrative assistant," Jolene Secretary, and a friend of hers from high school, Wanda, a $150 hooker, from the "criminal law and procedure" part of the July, 1999 Arkansas (where else?) bar exam.... More

Is love a fallacy? In my college freshman English course, which I took from a beautiful bright woman in her 20's, Elizabeth Breeland Rogers, at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, this essay, Love is a Fallacy, by Minnesota's own Max Shulman's The Education of Dobie Gillis, was required reading. I hope it still is.

A warning to lotharios, roués and cads: stay out of S.D. & a few other states. Our neighbor, South Dakota, is one of only a handful of states that still recognize the tort of alienation of affections. Article (Reno Gazette-Journal 02.12.2002). In 1969, shortly before I commenced employment as a law clerk in Hennepin County District Court, I attended as a spectator what I believe was the last alienation-of-affections trial held in Minnesota. The plaintiff, a teacher, sued another teacher for alienating the affections of plaintiff's wife, also a teacher. The evidence was mildly "juicy," as soap-opera buffs might say, including photos of plaintiff's wife and the defendant in bed in a motel room, photos the plaintiff himself took, after somehow (I can't remember how) gaining surprise entry into the room. The jury found in plaintiff's favor, setting the value of his then former wife's alienated affections at, if I recall correctly, @ $15,000, a verdict that was upheld on appeal. Subsequently, in 1978, the Minnesota Legislature wisely abolished the cause of action for alienation of affections (along with those for "criminal conversation, seduction and breach of contract to marry"), declaring that these actions "have been subject to grave abuses, have caused intimidation and harassment to innocent persons and have resulted in the perpetration of frauds." Minn. L. 1978 c 515 s 1. One might ask whether there aren't other currently-recognized causes of action that ought to be abolished for the same reasons.

Where love is the law. "Human tragedy and bureaucracy are found in almost every courthouse, and D.C. Superior Court is no exception. But inside Room 4485 on the fourth floor is something else entirely -- a small couch with red, heart-shaped pillows, for instance, and a young couple kissing behind closed doors. The smooch was not only permitted but also virtually a court order. Jeff Gossett and Amy Wilhem had just been married....The marriage bureau inside the D.C. courthouse is the city's matrimony factory. Here, couples are officially made, rings are exchanged and guests arrive late when a line forms downstairs at the metal detector. Almost 600 weddings are conducted here each year, about one of every five in Washington. Brief, basic and free, they are offered as a city service, like fire protection or street sweeping. The bureau is an odd little island of tenderness and good humor in an often-grim building on Indiana Avenue NW where criminal cases are heard and defendants' families wait in the same hallways as victims' kin....In the District, couples have been turning to the marriage bureau for what they say are headache-free nuptials, intimate but informal ceremonies without the organizational fuss. The price tag is also nice, couples said. The application costs $35, the certificate is $10 and a civil wedding by [a court-designated officer] or a judge is free, though donations are appreciated." Where Love is the Law (Washington Post 02.14.2002). And see A 'Weddingmeister' at the Courthouse (Washington Post 02.07.2002).

Jean Teasdale, incurable romantic. "Next to Christmas, my favorite holiday has to be Valentine's Day. In fact, I just got done decorating the windows of our apartment with teeny hearts cut out of red tissue paper, an annual ritual of mine. And, without fail, my efforts always get the same reaction from hubby Rick: 'Geez, Jean, did they rezone the red-light district right through our place? Where's the whores?'" More (The Onion)

What's sexy & what's not - part two. Romantic screen kisses from the days when nude scenes were not only not obligatory but not allowed. My favorite is also Lisa Zeidner's favorite: "Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed, jointly holding the phone to their ears in 'It's a Wonderful Life' (1946)." More ("When a Movie Kiss Is More Than a Kiss," New York Times 04.30.2000, reprinted at the author's site, LisaZeidner.Com).

Love & the law - around the world. a) Soma, Lovers in Tehran (in Tehran the question is "not whether you can find love, but whether you can dare love." (The Iranian) b) Bombay morality drive under fire, by Sanjeev Srivastava, about a police crackdown making it a "no-no" for young couples to sit together on the rocky ledge on the city's seafront. (Mumbainet)

An argument against love. A student essay from the USC Daily Trojan, 02.11.1994 by Elson Trinidad (arguing that romantic love is, to use a legal phrase, "total crap").

Judge decries cybersex. "Cybersex?" asks the judge, "You mean sex through a modem? You mean sex on a monitor? Good lord, the morals of this society! Sex should be a natural event of nature...." More

When a lawyer loves another lawyer. a) Lawyers in Love by Constance V. Vecchione, a legal ethics expert in Massachusetts. b) Love at the firm (BCG Search, Rodent - Google cache). c) Caught in the pact - couples involved in office dalliances required to sign 'love contract' by Torri Minton, San Francisco Chronicle 12.02.2001.

Click on "kiss" (left) for a collection of Valentine poems.

Click here and here for picks of the most romantic movies of all time, a few of which have lawyers and judges, those poor, unromantic souls, as characters.

Click here for part one of BurtLaw on Law and Love.

Click here for BurtLaw on Law and Kissing.

The naked judge! The true story of the naked judge and the upset litigant by David A. Gross, New York Lawyer October 2001.

The legal mind at work - on luv. Links to a sequence of essays from Writ: a) The Algebra of True Love by Randolph Cohen, a professor at Harvard Business School; b) The Arithmetic of Rejection, a comment on Cohen's essay by Matthew Wolf, a corporate litigator in D.C.; c) The Topology of Bodies, a response by Cohen.

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