Two weeks of vacation gone in a blink, and now there’s an accumulated pile of reading and rumination. I suppose the most notable legal development is the U.S. Supreme Court’s reduction of Exxon’s punitive damage award in the case in which its intoxicated captain took out a chunk of the ecosystem. More on that coming.

I was more struck by the death–I probably shouldn’t call him this–of one of my great influences, George Carlin.  He was such a lover of language and an individual. One of his great bits–Seven Words You Can’t Say on Television–is still a hoot. It’s too raw for a link here (not work appropriate; not family friendly). I imagine you can find it on youtube with only minimal effort.

If I were to hew the legal scholar line, I suppose I could drone on about the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1978 case involving the Seven Words, in which the Court affirmed the government’s authority to fine broadcasters of obscene materials. FCC v. Pacifica Foundation, 438 U.S. 726 (1978) (reprinted here). Obscenity cases bore me to tears, and I don’t think that it’s the important part of Carlin’s influence.

I think instead that it was Carlin’s willingness to stand up for what he believed and to call “bullshit” on hypocrisy.  He also loved language and laughter. He told stories using space, rhythm and sound in a way that taught me more than any master trial lawyer.

In the Vietnam era, Carlin had a great and well-remembered rap about the irony of Muhammad Ali, the great boxer. Ali refused to serve in the army claiming that he was a conscientious objector. As CNN reported, Ali said, “‘No, that’s where I draw the line. I’ll beat ‘em up, but I don’t want to kill ‘em.’ And the government said, ‘Well, if you won’t kill people, we won’t let you beat ‘em up.’”

The same kind of thing came from regular reading of Mad magazine. We former  adolescents raised on Alfred E. Neumann and George Carlin learned to question and doubt, two essential skills for those of us working in the civil justice system.

It’s a sweet, sad goodbye.

David Sugerman

Tags: George Carlin, Portland personal injury lawyer, sugerman, trial lawyer