I don't usually talk to folks outside work very much about work. For one thing, I wouldn't want to bore their socks off. But I went to two work-related events this last week that were definitely worth writing home about. On Tuesday, my public law office had its statewide conference. This is an intimate gathering of approximately 350 attorneys all milling around in the same place for a day. We hear from our leaders, congratulate ourselves, eat some mediocre food, and blah blah blah.
This year, though, two presentations were extraordinary. The Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations was formed in 1981 in response to the terrifying spate of harassment and criminal activities visited on their community by the Aryan white supremacy movement that had located north of Hayden Lake, Idaho. It is a truly grassroots human rights organization, formed in an unlikely place by ordinary people who just said, "Not in our town."
The two gentlemen who came to speak to us, Tony Stewart and Norm Gissel, were low key, humble and genuine. They have done this difficult, important work for twenty years, sometimes at great personal risk and -- even more impressively -- risk to their families as well. And they have been smart about it, too. They apply their efforts strategically and they never oppose an anyone's First Amendment right to speak or demonstrate. The Task Force simply believes that saying "YES" to human rights is the best way to say "NO" to prejudice.
With the help of the Southern Poverty Law Center and its justifiably famous founder Morris Dees, the Task Force was successful in suing and bankrupting the Aryan Nations based on an unprovoked assault against a mother and son near their compound by the group's guards. Today, their compound is no more.
We were also challenged to think about race by our keynote speaker, the gifted writer and speaker Sherman Alexie. Sherman Alexie is a Spokane/Coeur d'Alene Indian who grew up on the Spokane Indian Reservation in Wellpinit, WA, about 50 miles northwest of Spokane. He was born hydrocephalic, underwent a brain operation at the age of 6 months and was not expected to live, or to survive with severe mental retardation. Against all odds, he has survived and thrived, and has written poetry, novels, articles, and stories. One of his short stories was made into the film Smoke Signals, for which he wrote the screenplay. Among his books are The Business of Fancy Dancing and Lone Range and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven. He is also a stand-up comedian, and film director. His talk was hilarious, profane, wildly entertaining and insidiously thought-provoking. He has an uncanny ability to reshape myths and stereotypes by speaking his mind on a wide range of issues — from race relations, religion and politics to homophobia, war and morality. His exuberant spirit is an irresistible force and I felt privileged to hear him.
On Thursday, I attended, for the first and very probably only time in my life, the state Bar Association awards dinner. I was there to see my colleague Penny Allen, who has dedicated herself to pro bono work for over 16 years, receive a much-deserved award, the Angelo Petruss Award for Lawyers in Public Service.
Let me tell you, it's really hard to practice pro bono law in a public law office. Every single thing you do takes extra time and effort because you cannot do that work on the public's dime. I know because I've tried and have fallen back to doing law clinic work rather than direct representation. Penny, on the other hand, continues to represent one client after another in addition to her considerable workload as a section chief and having a family. She always talks about the benefits she gets from representing pro bono clients. She's been invited to weddings, I think she's even had children named after her. She manages to get any number of her colleagues to take pro bono cases as well.
As part of the office Pro Bono Committee that nominated Penny for a Bar Association award it was my privilege to write her nomination. It gave me enormous pleasure when I learned that she was to receive it and it was a real thrill to go along and see it presented. The very best part of the evening was learning that her award (a gorgeous crystal thing) reads in part "She inspires others."
All in all, not a bad week to be a lawyer.
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