2 PARAGRAPHS 4 LIBERTY: #251 "TREATMENT COURTS WORK!"

       As I often say on my radio podcast All Rise! The Libertarian Way with Judge Jim Gray, we all know that many things are going wrong today all around the world, but we do not particularly focus upon the fact that lots of things are actually going right as well.  And one of them is Treatment Courts, otherwise known as Collaborative Courts.  So what are those courts and what do they do?  Here in Orange County and, increasingly, all around our country we have Homeless Courts, Veterans Courts, Drug Courts, Mental Disability Courts and others.  And these courts do gratifyingly good jobs in treating the underlying problems that give rise to crimes in the first place.  They are called collaborative because the teams are composed of judges, social workers, counselors, medical doctors, prosecutors, defense attorneys and probation officers.  Yes, there is coercion that “encourages” the subjects/defendants to be involved, but those people quickly see that, if they take the programs seriously, not only will the criminal charges be dismissed but their lives will be much better.  So the programs are successful.

      When I was first appointed to the Bench at the end of 1983, it quickly became apparent to me that alcohol-related offenses were the largest unmet problems facing our courts.   So, I am proud to say, within six months of my appointment we had up and running what was probably the first Drug Court in the country.  Knowing full well that if the offenders were alcoholics they would continue to drink, and then almost certainly drive and pose unacceptably large risks to hurt themselves or others, we put them on a special program that demanded total abstinence.  In fact, I would tell them if they even ate rum cake and I found out about it, I would put them in jail.  But we did give them support with the Probation Department to oversee the program and the Orange County Health Care Agency to provide treatment.  And we were successful in keeping alcoholics, or what we called “high-risk problem drinkers,” off alcohol for six months, which was as long as I was able to keep statistics.  Happily now there are similar programs for the mentally ill, homeless and veterans.  For example, many people who are mentally ill self-medicate with mostly illicit substances in order to “keep their demons away.”  Thus it does no good whatsoever to put them in jail.  And, since jail is both the most expensive option as well as the purveyor of additional harm to these mentally fragile people, today’s approaches serve everyone’s interests.  So I just thought that you would like to know about these developments, because the best way to “get tough on crime” is to reduce it.

      Quote of the Week: “I had a rose named after me and I was very flattered.  But I was not pleased to read the description in the catalogue: ‘No good in a bed, but fine against a wall.’”  Eleanor Roosevelt

Judge Jim Gray (Ret.)

2012 Libertarian candidate for Vice President, along with

Governor Gary Johnson as the candidate for President

Please listen to our weekly radio show entitled “All Rise! The Libertarian Way with Judge Jim Gray” as we discuss timely issues, and show how they will be addressed more beneficially by employing Libertarian values and approaches.  You can hear it every Friday morning at 7 Pacific/10 Eastern by going to www.VoiceAmerica.com, clicking on the Variety Channel and then upon the word “live.”  You can also hear past shows on demand as well.  And, by the way, these 2 Paragraph columns are now on my website at www.JudgeJImGray.com, Facebook and LinkedIn at judgejimgray, Twitter at judgejamesgray, and wordpress at judgejimgray.wordpress.com  Please visit these sites for past editions, and do your part to spread the word about the importance of Liberty.  In addition, my new book entitled “2 Paragraphs 4 Liberty: Solutions that are Practical, Effective, Responsible, Libertarian, is now available at Amazon.com.   Please read and discuss it with friends, and send in a review.

2 PARAGRAPHS 4 LIBERTY: #235 "OUR LIBERTIES: THE SOUL OF AMERICA"

During World War II many of our troops who were being held as prisoners of war were tortured by the Japanese.  I understand that one of the things that kept our troops’ morale up during these ordeals was the strong belief that, if the situation would have been reversed, we would not torture them.  Why ?  Because we were better than that!  And that is one of the bases of American Exceptionalism.  But are we that way today?  Many terrorists around the world argue that, although we profess to be more pure, we are not.  And they invariably cite to our “state secret” laws that prevent people who claim they were tortured by our CIA or its agents from pursuing law suits in our courts against our federal government. 

What is the actual situation?  Few of us know – or even think about it – because it is out of the news. Wrongly so, in my opinion, because this strongly affects who we are.  And if we are torturing people for any reason whatsoever, We the People should be aware of it.  Of course, reasonable people can differ as to what constitutes torture, and the circumstances in which it can be used.  But regardless of how that discussion is resolved, that still does not address the State Secrets Act.  To further bring this issue into focus, Erwin Chemerinsky, Esq., the dean of the Law School at the University of California, Berkeley, has set forth his findings in a book entitled Closing the Courthouse Door: How Your Constitutional Rights Became Unenforceable.  And his message is disturbing.  He writes convincingly that our government is torturing people in our names to “protect” our national interests, but without being forced to show in court that state secrets would actually have to be revealed if a trial were to go forward.  In other words, since our Liberties are the soul of our great country, our soul is under attack by our very own government!  How do you think that would make our troops from Japanese prison camps feel?

Quote for the week:  I finally figured out what I wanted to be when I was older.  And the answer is: Younger.

Note: No edition was circulated last week because our housepainters cut the wires bringing the internet into our house.  Ah, technology. . . .

Judge Jim Gray (Ret.)

2012 Libertarian candidate for Vice President, along with

Governor Gary Johnson as the candidate for President

Please listen to our weekly radio show entitled “All Rise! The Libertarian Way with Judge Jim Gray” as we discuss timely issues, and show how they will be addressed more beneficially by employing Libertarian values and approaches.  You can hear it every Friday morning at 7 Pacific/10 Eastern by going to www.VoiceAmerica.com, clicking on the Variety Channel and then upon the word “live.”  You can also hear past shows on demand as well.  And, by the way, these 2 Paragraph columns are now on Facebook and LinkedIn at judgejimgray, Twitter at judgejamesgray, and wordpress at judgejimgray.wordpress.com.  Please visit these sites for past editions, and do your part to spread the word about the importance of Liberty.  And now my new book entitled “2 Paragraphs 4 Liberty: Solutions that are Practical, Effective, Responsible, Libertarian is available at Amazon.com.   Please send in a review.

2 PARAGRAPHS 4 LIBERTY: #222 "WORDS TO LIVE BY"

                As often stated in this column, we often cannot control the events that confront us, but we virtually always can control our responses to them.  So this brings me to something I would often relate to people on the few occasions when I was presiding as a judge in Traffic Court.  We all know that sometimes when other drivers cut us off, or are otherwise rude in their driving behavior, some of us (mostly males) respond by glaring or gesturing at the offender or, worse yet, trying to cut him off in return.  And often the initial recipient of the bad behavior would be the one who received the traffic citation.  So what did I say in court on those occasions?  What if you knew that the driver who cut you off was under the influence of methamphetamines?  Always the answer came that we would hold back and let that person have his way (almost but not always it was a male).  Just leave me alone!   

                So my advice to that person and everyone else in my courtroom was to treat all drivers who are involved in aggressive and rude behavior when behind the wheel as if they were on meth.  (And frequently you will probably be right!)  In fact, I myself have followed my own advice on several occasions after having the (mostly male) impulse to respond more aggressively.  And maybe that has saved me from harm.  So I believe these are words to live by.  If you agree, pass them on.

Quote for the week:  “Any publicity is good, except in the obit section.”  Dennis Rodman

Judge Jim Gray (Ret.)

2012 Libertarian candidate for Vice President, along with

Governor Gary Johnson as the candidate for President

Please listen to our weekly radio show entitled “All Rise! The Libertarian Way with Judge Jim Gray” as we discuss timely issues, and show how they will be addressed more beneficially by employing Libertarian values and approaches.  You can hear it every Friday morning at 7 Pacific/10 Eastern by going to www.VoiceAmerica.com, clicking on the Variety Channel and then upon the word “live.”  You can also hear past shows as well.  And, by the way, these 2 Paragraph columns are now on Facebook and LinkedIn at judgejimgray, Twitter at judgejamesgray, and wordpress at judgejimgray.wordpress.com.  Please visit these sites for past editions, and do your part to spread the word about the importance of Liberty.

2 PARAGRAPHS 4 LIBERTY: #198 "THE PARENTING/MENTORING OF CHILDREN

There are many things where I am not an expert, and parenting and mentoring children is certainly on that list.  But taking from my experience both as a parent and as a judge on the Juvenile Court and with Peer Court, I have gathered some thoughts over the years as to what works in that regard.  So with the New Year now with us, I thought that, in addition to loving our children, which is probably the most critical element in their positive  development, I would share some of those additional thoughts with you:

·         Teach our children the critical lesson that: “It’s fun to learn!”  Once they start to appreciate that fact, they will see that everything is interrelated.  So learning about one thing teaches them about many others.  And that makes life much more fascinating.

·         Another critical guideline to teach our children is to “Eschew Mediocrity.”  (I know this word is pompous, but I used it for emphasis in my high school musical “Americans All,” and it worked.)  Make excellence a pattern so if people know that, for example, Ellen did the job, they would know that it had been done right.  Thus “Good Enough” seldom is good enough.  One way to accomplish that outcome is to require all children to have regular chores to do from an early age, and be sure they are consistently done and done well.  Once again, excellence is a learned pattern of conduct.

·         “You Show Me your Friends, and I’ll Show You your Future!”  For example, if you hang out with colleagues who ditch school, smoke marijuana, talk back to their teachers and don’t apply themselves in their studies, the odds are overwhelming that you will do the same.  So, to pursue that thought, ask teenagers to close their eyes and think about the three people they hang out with the most.  And, without telling you who they are, ask the question: “Do you think they will be successful in their lives?”  If not, maybe you should hang out with a different group of people.   Another approach is to ask the question: “What is a friend?”  Does someone who encourages you to shop lift a CD, be truant or lie about your conduct really a “friend?”  Maybe that person is just a former friend, or maybe has always just been an acquaintance. 

·         Children should know where their boundaries of conduct are, and that those boundaries will be enforced – and then they will thrive within those boundaries.  Teenagers expect their parents to parent – and are inwardly disappointed when they don’t.  (Some parents are amazed at this thought, as they have instead simply tried to be their children’s “friends.”  But that is not the same thing!)

·         Ask teenagers how old they are right now, and then how old they will be ten years from now.    (I only had one young man get the wrong answer to this question.)  Then ask them what they want their lives to look like ten years from now.  (We all know that those ten years will go by quickly, but for a teenager it will seem like an eternity.)  So if you want to be an engineer, attorney, mechanic or medical doctor, what are you doing right now to further those worthwhile goals?  And will shoplifting at Target help you achieve them? 

·         “Your Dreams Don’t Work Unless You Do.”  Another way to drive home this thought is for a parent, teacher or other mentor to say: “I help those who help themselves.”

·         Teach children to question information, regardless of its source.  For example, one of my triumphs of parenting occurred one day when my three children, then at ages 9, 9 and 6, were driving with me through an area where there were sheets of plastic on the ground to nurture the growth of young strawberry plants.  So I said casually, “Look kids, this is where they grow plastic,” to which they responded: “Oh really Daddy, oh really?”  I said nothing.  But after we had driven another five miles down the road one of my children piped up and said: “Oh, come on Dad.”  I still see that as an important lesson for them.

·         Teach children that it often pays to postpone gratification.  People who can do that are much more likely to be successful than those who cannot.

·         Of course, grandparents should strongly to assist in the development of children, but it is also their obligation to spoil the grandchildren.  So do it without apology!

Okay, this edition has been much longer than I was expecting, but if even some of these thoughts make sense and are helpful, please use them and pass them along to other parents, teachers, coaches, scout leaders and other mentors as well.  It is hard for me to come up with a more important subject.  And if you have some other suggestions for successful parenting and mentoring, please pass them back to me.  If there are enough suggestions, we can revisit this issue in a future edition of 2 Paragraphs.

Judge Jim Gray (Ret.)

2012 Libertarian candidate for Vice President, along with

Governor Gary Johnson as the candidate for President

Thought for the week:  “I ordered a chicken and an egg from Amazon.  I’ll let you know.”

                                                                              

By the way, these columns are now on Facebook and LinkedIn at judgejimgray, Twitter at judgejamesgray, and wordpress at judgejimgray@wordpress.com.  Please visit these sites for past editions, and do your part to spread the word about the importance of Liberty.