Legal Ethics and Reform

NOTE: These steps are designed for individuals not organized groups. If you are interested in organizing a group to pursue legal reform goals, read the section entitled "Warnings about Political Organizing and Reporting" found elsewhere in this web site.

Step #1, know which office holders are lawyers and which candidates are lawyers. If needs be, call the bar association or candidate's headquarters to get this information.

Step #2, in conversation and in personal letters let you friends and neighbors know which office holders and candidates are lawyers. Do not send letters to people you don't know. Personalize your letters, don't do mass mailings.

Step #3, never give money to umbrella political organizations, like political parties, it is impossible to keep your money from flowing, at least in part, to some lawyers' campaigns. Give money directly to non-lawyers who run for office and mention in your cover note that it is good to see a non-lawyer running for office.

Step #4, tell every pollsters, or political fund-raiser, or political advocate who calls that you never vote for a lawyer. These people are told to keep track of comments offered. Political consultant read these comments and use them when making candidate recruitment decision in the next political cycle.

Step #5, write Letters to the Editor and phone "call in shows" commenting on the need for more non-lawyers in public life and in the media.

Step #6, run for office against a lawyer. In the election make your opponent's training/occupation, as a lawyer, an issue. Ask the voters - should a 'officer of the court' be running for this office? Does your opponent have 'divided loyalties' among the three branches of government? Even if you fail to win, you will be using the election process to educate the public; you will be planting seeds of doubt that might bloom later.

Step #7, promote the introduction of a Citizen Initiative Petition at the Federal level. Initiative Petitions could be used by the voters to remove Supreme Court Justices, pass laws, and/or amend the US Constitution. Those States that have this process has added accountability to their governmental system, particularly their courts. Only the most arrogant of judges rule against the people's will, especially when the people have the power to remove him (or her) from office.

Step #8, read legal reform literature, books, and websites. The new magazine, Anti Shyster, or the Gideon's Trumpet newsletter are good places to start. (For more information see the "About the Author, Related Links, and Suggested Reading" page in this website.)

Step #9, when discussing these matters with a lawyer (or a pro-lawyer person) kept calm, be systematic, start with the basics . You have been given an opportunity to educate someone. Hit three points, 1) the founding fathers wanted a system of checks and balances; currently the checks on the Federal Courts are broken and non-lawyer legislators are needed to fix them. 2) The eighth commandment says "thou shalt not lie", but we have a legal system that calls for "countervailing dissimulation (lying)" to work. The basic structure of our courts needs revision. 3) Costs are so high average people can't use the system. To get two lawyers up to speed on the facts and then put on a trial involving a disputed amount of $10,000 or $20,000 is economically unrealistic, so we need a simplified system where only one lawyer is involved. REMEMBER - lawyers should not be scorned; they should be pitied. Think of the scandalous ideas that were pushed on them in law school and the immoral legal processes they must accept to remain in the bar association.

Step #10, write letters to party officials saying "I'm disappointed that your party is running so many lawyers for high office. I like many of the programs your party supports, but I have a policy against voting for any 'officer of the court' running for a legislative or executive position. "

Step #11, Begin refering to yourself as an "NL Voter" or "NL Republican" or "NL Democrat" or "NL Reform Party Member" etc. NL means "non lawyer". (So, the meaning of "NL Republican" would be "I'm a Republican but I don't support lawyers".)

Step #12, don't try to do it all yourself; recruit others to help do this important work. Share the information in this website with them.