THE ADVOCATE 451
VOL. 79 PART 3 MAY 2021
The point is that in a liberal
democracy, a periodical written for
and consumed by members of the
legal profession surely must have
as free reign as anyone to decide
what it does and doesn’t publish.
If the work of Charlie Hebdo, for
instance, is defensible if only on
the basis of an expansive version of
free speech, then surely you must
have unfettered discretion to
decide whether or not to publish
two competing perspectives on
what in the legal profession is a relatively
novel issue. What happened
to “strive mightily, but eat and
drink as friends?”
My view: the Advocate (and others)
must stand up to this “I disagree
therefore you must be
censored” nonsense that is infecting
society (and the brains of three
benchers, apparently). Threats of
human rights complaints and hate
speech allegations in respect of the
publication of competing viewpoints
must be called out for the
utter nonsense they are; the only
way to do that is to publish in the
face of such intimidation.
However, the decision is yours
to make, not mine. Besides, one
can never have enough wine …
columns.
Thanks,
Mark Berry
Burnaby
Dear Editor,
Re: “Legal Anecdotes and Miscellanea:
The Rise and Fall of
Spiro Agnew” by D. Michael
Bain, Q.C., (2021) 79 Advocate
141
I read with interest the article on
Spiro Agnew by Michael Bain (now
Q.C.). I attended a small college in
Philadelphia shortly before Agnew
became vice president (emphasis
on “vice”). My roommate’s name
was E. Dale Adkins III, who is now
a well-known litigator in Baltimore.
His father, E. Dale Adkins Jr., was a
well-known lawyer who had run
unsuccessfully as a GOP candidate
for senator. He represented Agnew
in his disbarment proceedings
before the Maryland Court of
Appeal (Maryland State Bar Ass’n,
Inc. v. Agnew, 271 Md. 543, 553–54,
318 A.2d 811, online: <https://www.
courtlistener.com/opinion/1935150/
maryland-st-bar-assn-v-agnew/>).
Agnew may have repaid Frank
Sinatra, but he stiffed my roommate’s
father on his account. Nice
guy.
Yours truly,
Dick Hamilton, Q.C.
Gabriola Island
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