LEX FUGIT

LEX FUGIT-DETROIT MAYOR/RECORDERS COURT JUDGE CHARLES E. BOWLES

I was Christmas shopping this week at the Town Peddler Craft and Antique Mall in Livonia, hoping for inspiration.  I did come across the election ad for Charles Bowles, and was inspired-to write this post.  

No one on my list will be getting this item, to their collective relief, I'm sure.  I was tempted to gift this to myself, but I still have more items from my former office walls than I have space for in my home "legal suite".  And as my wife is a bit of a minimalist with regard to wall hangings (especially when chosen by me), there was little hope that this would be allowed in any other room (bathrooms included) at Chateau Butler.  Sadly, I will not be adding Mayor Bowles to my collection.

But, Charles' colorful career does deserve mention here.

From the Detroit Historical Society article:

Detroit mayor Charles Bowles was born in Yale, Michigan on March 24, 1884. He graduated from what is now known as Ferris State University in 1904, received a law degree from the University of Michigan in 1908, and was admitted to the bar the following year.

In 1925, Bowles ran for mayor of Detroit following the resignation of Frank E. Doremus. While he was eliminated in the primary election, Bowles continued as a write-in candidate and nearly won. After losing the election, he became the judge on the recorder’s court. He was re-elected in this position, but resigned in 1929 to run for mayor once more. Bowles defeated John C. Lodge (of expressway fame, ed.) in the primary election and John W. Smith in the general election and was sworn in as Detroit’s 58th mayor in 1930. The previous decade had seen increased racial tension and the resurfacing of the Ku Klux Klan, who supported Bowles and likely pushed him to victory.

After just six months in office, Bowles was recalled after he fired the police commissioner. Detroit citizens accused him of “tolerating lawlessness.” In the subsequent election, he lost to Frank Murphy. Following his defeat, Bowles returned to the practice of law and made several unsuccessful bids for seats in the state legislature and Congress. He died July 30, 1957 and is buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Detroit.

The Wikipedia entry for Mr. Bowles was attached to the back of the frame, and includes this statement, regarding Bowles first run at the mayor's job, omitted from the Historical Society piece:  "He was openly supported by the Ku Klux Klan."

In fact, Mr. Bowles was featured in this undated article on the Crime Capsule site: "Charles Bowles, Detroit's Worst Mayor Ever".

That title is to be questioned, as in a 2014 article in the Detroit Free Press, "Meet the 5 worst Mayors in Detroit History", Charles is rated a mere 3rd, behind Kwame Kilpatrick and Richard Reading (who earned the unfortunate nickname "Little Dick").  To be fair, Mr. Bowles was merely recalled, while Kwame and Little Dick were sent to prison for mayoral hijinks.

One the credit side, I am a fan of old-time radio, and Charles Bowles did deliver the first political speech on WWJ's airwaves, on July 12, 1930.  Probably not enough to even the scales of his legacy, I suppose.

A LEX FUGIT QUANDARY

            I started the www.LexFugit.com website a couple of years ago, as a place to preserve some of the more interesting tales of practicing law in the Michigan courts.         

            The site’s motto:  Barba Crescit, Caput Nescit-The Beard Grows, but the Head Does Not Grow Wiser (a real Latin adage, by the way), was meant to convey that this was to be a comparatively light-hearted, self-effacing collection of seasoned practitioners’ experiences.

            I never expected there would be an issue getting lawyers to talk about themselves.  Social media is full of smiling lawyers stating that they are “humbled and honored” to be recognized as a super/best/extra most bestest attorneys.  On these same forums, lawyers have no difficulty congratulating themselves on a job well done, if they don’t mind saying so themselves-repeatedly.

            I figured, all I had to do was let attorneys know that I was looking for their stories, and they would send them along.  That hasn’t happened to any satisfying degree.  I am surprised.  I know that lawyers basically get paid for their time, and time taken writing down war stories is time spent not making money.  But, there is voice recognition features on our phones and word processing apps.  This doesn’t take long.

            Here are some of my recent experiences.  One of the great stories on the site:  Sy Orlowski’s Most Impotent Case, was related to me by the venerable Dan Makarski, who asked that I “ghost” the story for him.  The piece will appear in an upcoming issue of Detroit Lawyer Magazine.

            4 or so months ago, I was sitting, remotely, with attorney Gary Krochmal on a case evaluation panel in Wayne County.  As usual, our cases were overwhelmingly No-Fault claims.  During one of the breaks, he related a story of an ICLE seminar he attended in 1972, covering the brand new, Michigan No Fault Act.  The presenters, including Shel Miller, told the audience that they should get into another area of practice as there would be no more auto cases.  I think all would agree, this was a story we’d love to hear.  Over a couple of months, I asked Gary a half dozen times if he’d write the story.  He never outright refused, but after a few weak excuses (“I have to clear this with Shel”), he stopped replying to me. I’ll never get that story.  Maybe I’ll contact Shel.

            So, I have had to pester folks for articles, which I don’t mind doing.  Lawyers generally take the path of least resistance when there is real paying work to be done.  So, it is understandably easy to do nothing when nothing is really required.

            I soldier on.

            It was suggested that the members of the State Bar of Michigan’s Senior Lawyer Section might be a source of stories.  I joined the section and signed up for the listserv.  I intended to post a request for stories to the members of the section.  Thank God I didn’t. The Senior Section listserv was another world.  Whereas I had trouble getting any lawyer to write down his/her “stories”, the members of the listserv could not be stopped.  The same group of 5-6 lawyers posted both long and often.  The number of posts were exponentially higher than the combined posts of all the other SBM sections to which I belonged-like ADR and Negligence.

            I quickly learned that all content is not good content.  The Senior Section listserv, as of April and May of 2021, contained the following discussions:

• Donald Trump had won the Presidential election of 2020, though by what margin of popular and/or Electoral College vote was never so much as suggested;
• George Floyd had actually killed himself, not once, but twice;
• ”As lawyers we know that proof of prior bad acts may be used to prove a current bad act.” Because the Chinese are Stalinists and Stalin was a murderous dictator, this is proof that the Chinese are responsible for the Corona Virus- ironically referred to as a “scamdemic”.

           Daily posts, longer than this article, were the norm among this happy band.