I'm Out with the Out Crowd

For most of my professional career as a lawyer serving the least among us, I've been appalled by the cynical self-serving actions of those who pretend to be guardians of a free and just society. Way, way too many corrupt frauds in public office, or more generally, in public service. Long ago, I spoke out about a very powerful judge who had many allies in the system. Particularly, he/she had many allies in the county prosecutor's office and in law enforcement. They were The In Crowd in Cuyahoga County government and politics.

As a result, I wound up on a "No Deals" list inside the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's Office. A No Deals list is exactly what it sounds like: Your clients are screwed because they have you as a lawyer. Unless you can convince a jury. And I convinced a number of juries in those days that the prosecution was, as esteemed jurist Louis Brandeis often posited, "total bullshit."

How I dealt with that crippling blow to my career is worthy of a screenplay. Perhaps, there's one in the can already. Suffice it to say, I took the long view that federal investigations would, one day, right the Poseidon once again. In the meantime, I'd do my best Hackman with a law degree, leading lost souls to the top masquerading as the bottom, while The In Crowd lead others to their doom by heading to the bottom masquerading as the top.

And now, Cuyahoga County is deep into a federal takeover, with investigations at every level of public service. Judges are going to jail. Prosecutors are cutting deals to rat out their supervisors. Cops, too. The most powerful people in Clevelandia have been forced to look back on their own lives and find themselves despicable. Suddenly, that corrupt In Crowd is now The Out Crowd.

And, me, Out with The In Crowd for so long, now find myself Out with The Out Crowd.

Do you know what that makes me, now? When you're Out with the Out Crowd, you are, by definition, The In Crowd.



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