Volume 13, Issue 1
Fall 2001
Senior Lawyer News
This issue of the newsletter is different from recent issues in at least three aspects. First, it comes out at a time of national crisis. The country is at war with an illusive, largely invisible , group of terrorists determined to create havoc and spread fear across the land. Second, we are addressing many more lawyers than we did when we were only a section of the State Bar. We have become a conference and our audience has expanded to include all members of the bar 55 years of age or older. Third, our format is different. Instead of mailing our paper, we are putting it on the Internet. We hope it is read by a large number of our members.
The national crisis brings with it a tension between freedom from government intrusion in our private lives and the need to hunt out subversives who do not play by any rules of fairness. Eaves dropping on electronic communication devices will expand. Detention without specific charges will increase. Our mails will be scrutinized for irregularities, which may relate to dissemination of anthrax spores. The news media has fanned the flames of public concern. Moderation is in order.
William Saffire wrote about managing fear in the October 15 issue of the Norfolk Virginian Pilot.
"We are uncomfortable with national anxiety. We are unfamiliar with a sense of danger. Accustomed to rapid response and quick closure, we are especially uneasy about having to wait for the other shoe or bomb to drop. 'Be Brave.' To a service member or to a cop or firefighter recruited and trained to face a threat to life, that means to act honorably despite natural fear. Such courage is measurable; varying degrees of medals are awarded, sometimes posthumously, to denote its extent beyond the call of duty.
But what does 'be brave' mean to those never called, to the person with a paunch, to the family-centered civilian or the duty-free single citizen? In homeland defense, what used to be called 'the home front' is now the actual front, and we have to comfort ourselves with a degree of courage in this new front line.
This is not fearlessness; only the deranged or the wildly fanatic are fearless. The trick is to shake hands with our worry, get comfortable with our uneasiness and manage our fear. How? We all have different ways – religion, meditation, community volunteerism, exercise, meaningless dialogue, escapist novels, three-martini lunches . . ."
Whatever escape from fear we select, we eventually have to face facts. Lawyers are trained to deal with facts. They are equipped to reason objectively. We would hope they use their skills to dampen excessive fear and promote a balanced response to the terrorists. We can help take the terror out of terrorism.
Francis N. Crenshaw
Crenshaw,Ware & Martin
Norfolk, Virginia