by James C. Sherlock
A late friend, who was on the local bar association’s ethics committee, offered wise overarching advice to attorneys.
If it doesn’t feel right, don’t do it.
Fairness is often defined as impartial and just treatment or behavior without favoritism or discrimination. In this case, we are not talking about political favoritism, which is an outcome of elections, but about corruption, which has become institutionalized in the General Assembly.
Multiple studies have shown that even babies know what is fair.
The bottom line here is that children, even young ones, show remarkable sophistication not just in their understanding of and conformity to norms of fairness but also in their ability to enforce fairness in others and to flexibly tune fairness to different situations.
Sure, children are selfish sometimes. We should recognize, however, that just like in adults, alongside their impetus for self-maximization runs a deep and maturing concern for fairness—not just for themselves but for others as well.
Even in adulthood, most citizens retain the ability to know what is fair. The General Assembly fails that test.
Major issues in its operations have become intertwined and additive, producing what we have now: a system that combines short sessions, unlimited campaign donations, and a purposeful shortage of professional staff, leading to uninformed members and undue influence by lobbyists. Tolerance for conflicts of interest completes the degradation.
This author has witnessed firsthand how those factors destroy any reasonable expectation that the public interest is adequately reflected in the Code of Virginia. That outcome and their daily experiences in Richmond simply cannot “feel right” to most members.
So stop doing it.
