Anatomy of an Op Ed

dukeellington-anatomyI authored an opinion piece in support of Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s nomination to the Supreme Court that was published in the June 28, 2009 edition of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.  You can read the piece here (and you can read a “dueling” piece authored by Rick Esenberg here).

 What follows is a deconstruction of my own op ed piece.  The final product as it appeared in the newspaper has its origins in the fundamentals of logic and rhetoric.  Law students, in particular, may be interested in the way in which I employ several classic techniques of persuasive writing in order to make my case.     

 Believe in Your Argument: It is not necessary to have an angel for a client, but it helps.  The most accomplished persuasive writing techniques will not hide the fact that your argument is a stinker.  My task is to persuade the reader that my belief – that Judge Sotomayor is a moderate jurist who should be confirmed to the Supreme Court-is one that they should adopt as well.  If I do not believe my own argument, I will not succeed in convincing the reader.  

 Know Your Audience:  My language is directed towards the non-specialist, so I consciously avoided legal technicalities.  Also, I assume that the average newspaper reader will be skimming the text rather than fully engaged in my arguments.  Therefore, I utilize simple and direct sentences as opposed to rhetorical questions or complex syllogisms that require greater concentration to follow.

Continue ReadingAnatomy of an Op Ed

Which Declaration of Independence?

800px-summerfest_2008_fireworks_70551When you are at your Fourth of July cookout or fireworks display this week, see if anyone mentions the Declaration of Independence.  If they do, ask “which Declaration of Independence?”  After all, there are more than one.

 In her 1997 book American Scripture: Making the Declaration of Independence, historian Pauline Maier describes the events leading up to July 4, 1776 and points to multiple “other” Declarations of Independence issued by local legislative bodies earlier that year.  Declarations were issued in a variety of places, including Buckingham County (Virginia), Charles County (Maryland), and Natick, Massachusetts.  In most cases, these “other” Declarations took the form of instructions from the citizens of a particular geographic area to their elected representatives in the state legislature or in the Continental Congress.  After recounting the unjustified treatment of the colonies by the Crown, these documents authorize the peoples’ representatives to vote in favor of severing ties with England.  However, some of these Declarations take a different form, such as a judge instructing a grand jury on the source of their legal authority in the absence of a Royal Governor.

Continue ReadingWhich Declaration of Independence?

“Well, a satirical piece in the Times is one thing, but bricks and baseball bats really get right to the point.”

Nazis Highway

So said Woody Allen (as Isaac Davis in Manhattan) in response to the suggestion that a Nazi march was “devastated” by a mocking piece in the New York Times.

In Sunday’s  Times, there was an article about a group calling themselves “The Nationalist Socialist Movement – Springfield Unit.”  It has been allowed to participate in Missouri’s adopt-a highway program. Under the program, a group agrees to pick up trash along a stretch of roadside and, in return, a sign is erected at the onset of the “adopted” segment, acknowledging their participation. The Nazis apparently pick up litter in full regalia. 

What to do? Allen’s character suggested picking up bricks and baseball bats and going to “really explain things to them.” Let’s take that off the table.

There is no question that the Nazis have a right to participate. The Supreme Court has held that groups may not be excluded from such programs on the basis of their political beliefs. That case (also arising from Missouri) involved adoption of a highway by the Klu Klux Klan. State officials responded by renaming the road after Rosa Parks.

Legislators have proposed calling the highway on which the Nazis collect trash, the Abraham Joshua Heschel Memorial Highway after the prominent rabbi and philosopher.Although Heschel’s daughter is not happy with the proposal (and her wishes are entitled to great consideration), I sort of like it. Absent the preferred option, i.e., that such people not exist, there is something about having Nazis pick up the garbage on what is, symbolically, a Jew’s road. “Excuse me, there, Horst, but I think you missed that Toblerone wrapper. Be a good little Aryan and pick that up for me.”

I appreciate that people will look at the propriety of such a response in different ways. One argument would be, I suppose, that to do anything more draws attention to the Nazis. But fanatics have a way of drawing attention to themselves. I prefer to see honoring Heschel in the face of these jamokes as the wages of hatred. The Nazis are marginalized and Heschel, who barely escaped the charnel house, is honored.

But this is the faculty blog so let’s explore a legal point.

Continue Reading“Well, a satirical piece in the Times is one thing, but bricks and baseball bats really get right to the point.”
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