As Howard Bashman reported, Geoffrey Fieger lost his appeal before the 6th Circuit, challenging Michigan’s imposition of civility on lawyers.  Fieger, after having a $15 million verdict overturned, decided to use his radio show to express his personal feelings toward the court.  His words were not kind.  His words were pretty awful, in fact.  He compared the judges to “Nazis”, which is about the worst thing one can say, even though more than 60 years have elapsed since the end of World War II. 

Most reports of this case have limited their mention to “vulgar” and offensive.  This is what the decision says:

Three days later, on August 23, 1999, Mr. Fieger, in a tone similar to that which he had exhibited during the Badalamenti trial and on his then-daily radio program in Southeast Michigan, continued by addressing the three appellate judges in that case in the following manner, “Hey Michael Talbot, and Bandstra, and Markey, I declare war on you. You declare it on me, I declare it on you. Kiss my ass, too.” Mr. Fieger, referring to his client, then said, “He lost both his hands and both his legs, but according to the Court of Appeals, he lost a finger. Well, the finger he should keep is the one where he should shove it up their asses.”

Two days later, on the same radio show, Mr. Fieger called these same judges “three jackass Court of Appeals judges.” When another person involved in the broadcast used the word “innuendo,” Mr. Fieger stated, “I know the only thing that’s in their endo should be a large, you know, plunger about the size of, you know, my fist.” Finally, Mr. Fieger said, “They say under their name, ‘Court of Appeals Judge,’ so anybody that votes for them, they’ve changed their name from, you know, Adolf Hitler and Goebbels, and I think–what was Hitler’s–Eva Braun, I think it was, is now Judge Markey, she’s on the Court of Appeals.”

Fieger is outrageous.  His language is inexcusable.  He apparently wants to be the “shock-jock” of the legal profession, pushing the envelope to the edge, then giving it one, final huge shove into the precipice.  He is an idiot.  And for this, I thank him.

For somewhat obvious reasons, somebody was not happy with Fieger’s choice of words.  As Turley explains :

He was charged by the Michigan Attorney Grievance Commission with violating the courtesy and civility provisions of the Michigan Rules of Professional Conduct. While he agreed to a public reprimand, he reserved the right to challenge the “civility” provisions on free speech grounds.

So Geoffrey Fieger, being Geoffrey Fieger, did what one would expect Geoffrey Fieger to do. He sued.  Because Geoffrey Fieger is such a jerk, and so inherently pugnacious, we don’t have to be. 

I absolutely believe that lawyers must conduct themselves with courtesy and civility in court, and that judges, no matter what, must be shown the respect due their station.  This is not to say that we cannot be critical of their decisions, and indeed I believe we have a duty to be critical of rulings.  But we do not levy personal attacks against judges for being morons, even if they are. 

But creating and enforcing rules of courtesy and civility are another matter.  These concepts are so terribly vague, so inherently bound up with individual sensibility, as to be essentially meaningless as a measure for disciplinary action.  My line and yours may not be the same, and it’s unlikely that many people share the same line as Fieger.

Based upon the line I would personally draw in the sand, Fieger went so far past it that I can’t see him in the distance.  Why he would do so is beyond me.  Did he think he would endear himself to the judges, persuade them to revisit their ruling, achieve rhetorical greatness?  Frankly, he sounds like candidate for heavy doses of Ritalin, administered hourly. 

But for the rest of us, it’s the risks taken by the Geoffrey Fiegers that test the line.  If the rest of us are to have some clue where the line is drawn, somebody has to do something incredibly stupid to make himself the guinea pig.  So as much as I think he’s a flaming jerk, I offer my appreciation to Geoffrey Fieger for doing what I would hope never to do: testing the fragile edges of free speech.  Better him than me.