Legal Field Diversity Au Naturel

The article by William G. Paul, president of the American Bar Association, titled "Diversity in the Legal Field Crucial to Our Future," (Forum, June 12) that calls for more diversity in the legal profession makes me wonder about Paul's assumptions. For instance, Paul must assume that in order to advocate the rights of a particular minority person or group, one must be a member of such group. Where is the evidence for such a baseless charge?

Is diversity necessary on the Lakers basketball team? More than 12 percent of the team is black, with whites clearly under represented. Should it be changed, or could it be that the racial mix on a basketball team simply reflects those with the most talent?

Paul states that something must be done or we risk people losing confidence in the legal system. The people have lost confidence in the system and this, I submit, has nothing to do with the ancestry, race, color or sex of the judges or lawyers functioning in our system.

Paul seems to suggest that white judges are not capable of meting out justice to others who are not white and that white attorneys cannot or do not do a proper job for their non white clients. This suggestion is nothing more than pandering to the politically correct, anti-white bigots in our society. Where is the evidence of such failing or that white lawyers treat their non white clients any differently than they treat their white clients? I submit there is none.

Paul cites an ABA study that shows "a widespread perception that not everyone is treated fairly by our system of justice." Yet Paul presents no evidence to support his assertion regarding this widespread perception. One must ask who the respondents were in the study, what was their education level, what is their connection with the legal profession and were the respondents informed or uninformed. Moreover, are their opinions based on fact or are they nothing more than perceptions, as apparently Paul's opinion is?

According to Alan Dershowitz, the legal profession is dominated by Jews. Is there any evidence that these Jewish attorneys and judges have treated their non white or non-Jewish clients any differently than they have treated their Jewish brethren? I think not.

Paul apparently argues that as more minorities enter the legal profession, justice will be more fairly meted out. Yet the statistics he cites actually argue for the opposite. He states that in 1968, only 1 percent of the legal profession was black and 30 years later, in 1997, black representation was 2.7 percent of the legal profession. Have things improved during these 30 years as minority representation has increased? Even though there are more black people in the legal profession, Paul nevertheless seems to say they have not.

If Paul wishes to increase confidence in the legal profession he should be concerned with the judicial activism from the bench. He should be concerned with the people's rights being denied because a federal judge declares their initiative unconstitutional. Perhaps he should be concerned with the low voter turnouts based on people's frustration in having their votes nullified by a judge.

People lose confidence when they see obviously guilty people going free when a judge throws out the evidence because the police did not follow procedure. This is contrary to common sense and creates feelings of frustration and concern. These are some of the real sources of the lack of confidence in our legal profession. They have nothing to do with the nationality, race, color or sex of the judge or the lawyer.

If the legal profession is to regain the confidence of the people, it must return to the common sense, intended meaning of the U.S. Constitution and cease expanding the words in the Constitution to include things clearly not intended. Each time the Constitution is improperly expanded, the rights of the people to self-determination are further restricted. Paul owes an apology to the legal profession for suggesting that it is generally incompetent and incapable of doing its work, given that Paul has presented no evidence to support his thesis.

Diversity should be an individual, natural phenomenon - not a government-sponsored, forced activity. Treating or recognizing people as members of a particular racial or ethnic group only serves to divide the nation and the legal profession even further.