Ethics & Community Standards, Two: 6-15-2010

 [Continued from Ethics & Community Standards, Part One: 6-15-2010. sch 11-6-22.]

 But what of the Wall Street banker pushing toxic assets? I say he followed what he thought of as his community values. Think about that. I did my best following the legal profession's Code of Professional Conduct because I wanted praise from that community.

[I would add now that my self-image, which fed my vanity, came down to my professional competence. That thinking stays with me, just as it existed before my becoming a lawyer - that one needs to be competent at what they do to be a full person. I do not know why I did not put this when I wrote the preceding paragraph. sch 11/6/22.]

A constant refrain by my fellow inmates here is the different treatment between state law for contact offense and federal law for non-contact offenses. The latter invokes harsher penalties than the former. I say they are two different communities. The comeback is then, why the difference between state and federal law on non-contact charges? I say again there is a difference in communities for all it sounds lame to me.

I will write more about these themes.

sch

[This was written before I knew about United States v. Dorvee. See my What the Government Won't Like #2. sch 11/6/22.]