CANON NINE:
A LAWYER SHOULD AVOID EVEN THE APPEARANCE
OF PROFESSIONAL IMPROPRIETY
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By
Millard W. Arnold
Integrity is the very breath of Justice…may I send you a bottle of Scope? In the religion of power – which is paramount – it is in the name of the executive, the legislative and the supreme court, amen? A holy trinity of esquired sameness. A trilogy of righteousness above contempt. Did YOU take the oath?? You are a priest in the service. Would you spit on Jesus and still serve mass? I believe in you. I need to believe in you, for not to believe is to deny what I am. I exist in this vicious triangle of love/hate/fear, and I fear you the most for I have no control. I love you because I fear your wrath. I hate you for having the power of life and death over me. I understand now, that you may tell me when I may be born….and when it is permissible to die. You are the nectar of your being; my being. I created you in all of your potential Frankensteining horror. I share that mortification with Justice. We still believe, and so long as we do, you exist. Your existence is perpetuated by our belief. Justice remains unmoved. I have my doubts. Why are you, the defender of what is right, being tried for what is wrong?? Is that you suffering with your hands manacled in front of you?? Or is that a reflection of myself? Why are you now so shabby, so shopworn, so….criminal? Have you always been? You must be stripped naked of your appearance of impropriety, but I must bear the shame. Would this have happened had you possessed the ethics of your profession?? They are carved in stone. Were they carved in your mind, how blessed it would be.