FEATURE ARTICLE

January 2008

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Bring Us Law to Match Our Rivers

Historical Perspective Twenty-five years ago, as chair of the State Bar Committee on the Environment, I moderated the statewide debates on the Peripheral Canal. In one respect that was a sound assignment, in that I remained undecided until the last week of the campaign how to vote. Compelling arguments belonged to both sides, and some of my most respected and closest colleagues presented those arguments pro and con. In the end I cast my ballot with the majority against the canal, not because of its engineering or technical design, but because of the failure of my own profession to provide mandates to govern the works.