Gay Adoption
George L. Metcalf is opposed to gay adoption and under the First Amendment is entitled to his opinion.

Florida, to my knowledge, is the only state with such a prohibition. Mr. Metcalf will not be convinced otherwise. Those who write in the News to oppose his opinion only give him a platform for a very small minority position.

Those of us who live in the 21st century find Mr. Metcalf’s arguments highly discriminatory.

While the rights of the minority must be protected, they need not be set forth in “long bright lights” in every recent issue of the News. Perhaps Mr. Metcalf will write more letters setting forth his position on the matter, as is again his right. The rest of us should move on.

Paul A. Lester
Miami

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George Metcalfe, in an October 15 letter, suggests that my opposition to Florida’s law prohibiting gay adoption may be infected with some personal bias since my son is gay.

Yes, my son is gay. So what?

Not only is my son’s sexual orientation irrelevant to this issue, it is a smokescreen to conceal its insidious and manifest purpose to embarrass me and my child.

I am, and always have been, very proud of my son. I am proud of his most distinguished record as a jurist. I am proud that he is a compassionate human being. I am proud that he dedicated his very being to serve the public interest. I am proud that he is cherished by so many for the positive impact that he had on their lives.

As does his sister, my son has what some would call soul. . .with all of its spiritual implications. Their passion is to serve humanity.

Notwithstanding David being a devoted son and his manifold contributions in the service of his fellow humans, Mr. Metcalfe argues that David forfeited G-d’s favor and is damned because of his sexual orientation. And going further, he contends that G-d demands that my son be shunned by his fellow man, and “cut off from among their people.” He rests his position upon the literal interpretation of Leviticus.

Is not it Biblically accepted that (wo)man was created in the image of G-d? If G-d created His people with different sexual orientations, then who is Mr. Metcalfe and his ilk to question G-d’s wisdom? If his answer is that the literal translation of the Bible says it’s so, then how are all of the bizarre and inhumane contradictions of the Bible explained? They cannot.

Who in their right minds would accept and be bound as part of the civil law the literal Biblical interpretations? (I do not consider members of the Taliban as being in their right minds!)

In sum and in every respect, David has made both his late mom and me very proud parents.

And, I repeat, any law that would prohibit the likes of my son from adopting a child is an “ass.”

Burton Young
North Miami Beach

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What is wrong with The Florida Bar News? Are there no adults screening the letters anymore? While I will defend anyone’s constitutional right to say stupid things, I am not required to put up with my Bar dues being used by religious or secular zealots to harangue one another.

“God’s Law”? “Judeo-Christian precepts”? Bible quotations and readings from the Tanakh? Somebody needs to get a grip here.

Gay adoption, straight adoption, or adoption by little green people from Mars — it is still adoption. The key remains the same. What is in the best interest of the child? Not every child, not all children. But that one small person that is before the court. As one judge told me years ago, “One disaster at a time, Mr. Price.”

Let the judge decide. We go to a lot of trouble ensuring smart and capable people are sitting on the bench, so let them do their jobs. In each case a Mr. Metcalfe can advocate one reality, and somebody else will argue the opposite. Then let our judges do what we pay them to do — decide what is in the best interest of the child in question.

Now, I’ve had enough. Start editing, add more comics to distract me, or give me some money back.

Jeffrey L. Price
Gainesville

Rein in Rogue Attorneys
Recent headlines in Broward County, and throughout the United States, focus public attention, once more, on the ethics or lack thereof, of members of our legal profession.

It is incumbent on each of us to press The Florida Bar to rein in rogue members who choose to profit by forsaking the ethical rules and guidelines governing our everyday practice. If we are less than extremely diligent and demanding, then the future of our practice will be in peril and the past blood, sweat, and tears shed by diligent legal professionals, who built this august body, will be for naught.

There are certain steps The Florida Bar can take to sustain credibility in the public eye:

First, adopt an expedited review process whereby a rogue attorney’s license is immediately suspended in “extraordinary” circumstances where s/he has publicly admitted to breaches of our ethical canons. This suspension would curtail their immediate ability to practice pending a full evidentiary review.

Second, back an immediate draft and recommendation to seek electoral amendment to the Florida Constitution whereby all judges must be appointed. The continued spectacle of permitting judicial candidates to stand for election and to accept campaign contributions from attorneys who may appear before that candidate (should s/he become a sitting judge) is absurd and must be curtailed.

Let The Florida Bar also adopt the position that, in the interim, all Florida Bar members must refrain from contributing to the campaigns of judicial candidates and/or require judges to recuse themselves whenever an attorney who has contributed to his/her campaign is assigned a case before that judge.

The public must be assured The Florida Bar will not tolerate or sustain the specter that one attorney may claim “ownership” over any Florida judge. It is abhorrent to our notions of fair play and justice and completely contradictory to the underpinnings of our system of jurisprudence.

We, as a collective body, have much work to do to restore the public’s respect and faith in our profession. If we do not take these necessary first steps to restore public trust in our profession, some other body will move to do so, and then it will be too late for us all.

David Weiss
Plantation