Media Reviews
Gray Mountain By John Grisham 2014, Doubleday
The Houston Lawyer
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Reviewed The HON. Jeff Work he best description of Gray Mountain is that it combines the inspiration of To Kill a Mockingbird with the backwoods justice of the tale in the 1972 movie, Deliverance. The newest Grisham book’s scenery backdrop moves swiftly from a large New York City law firm, to Washington D.C., to a small town in the Appalachians and back again several times. The main character, and our heroine, is a bright, young, three-year real estate lawyer, who is the only child of two highly successful lawyers. It can be difficult to be married to a lawyer; it can be excruciating being the only child of an attorney marriage. Initially, this book may be met with much skepticism. Although Grisham has written some enormously successful thrillers over the years, occasionally he leaps into a pulpit to address a topic politically and socially important to him. Legal service to the poor is a hot topic in today’s legal circles, and the source of pride, guilt, pessimism, or indifference to lawyers depending on their involvement. So, when Grisham quickly moves to a Virginia legal services clinic as one of the main environments, the reader may be mentally preparing for a moral tongue lashing. Instead, Grisham rapidly brings the main character, Samantha Kofer, into several humorous situations and more than a few moral dilemmas. In true Grisham style, he creates a drama that appears to have only one solution but suddenly sends the reader into a free-fall of alternative crises. Although the book provides suspense, it is also easy to relax with on a 46
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rainy day. As with many of his other writings, if you are critical of Grisham, you may not like this book; but, if you are a fan of Grisham, you will thoroughly enjoy it. Frankly, it would not hurt most of us to gain a deeper understanding of legal services to the poor, and be entertained in the process. The Hon. Jeff Work is a former judge of Harris County State District courts. He practices with the Law Offices of Susan Cartwright/Zurich Insurance Group Staff Counsel, litigating for the Major Claims Unit.
When Money Speaks: The McCutcheon Decision, Campaign Finance Laws and the First Amendment By Ronald Collins & David Skover 2014, Top Five Books
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Reviewed by Jason D. Goff haun McCutcheon is an electrical engineer. He is rich but no Rockefeller. McCutcheon believed that he could make a difference by donating money to his political party and its candidates. His greatest obstacle, however, was the threat of being charged and convicted of a felony for overcontribution, bearing a five-year penalty. The law in question, known as the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA), sets limits on the amount any individual can donate to any specific candidate ($48,600 per
candidate) or political party ($74,600 per political party), and additionally sets an aggregate limit ($123,200). During the 20132014 election cycle, McCutcheon wanted to donate more than $135,000 among several candidates and the Republican Party, which would have exceeded the contribution limit under the BCRA. McCutcheon believed that his individual donations were his voice as to what he believed to be the correct direction for the country. He believed that the BCRA obstructed his rights of free speech under the First Amendment and decided that this was the battle he would fight. And so began the case of McCutcheon v. Fed. Election Comm’n, 134 S. Ct. 1434 (2014). When Money Speaks was written by Ronald Collins and David Skover. Collins is a professor of law at the University of Washington Law School. Skover is a professor of law at the neighboring Seattle University School of Law. Collins and Skover have been writing articles and books together for nearly three decades. When Money Speaks addresses the United States Supreme Court’s decision in the McCutcheon case, in which the Court analyzed the constitutionality of restraining an individual’s right to make political contributions. The case was limited to the issue of aggregate contributions, and did not address the limits on contributions to specific candidates or political parties. The debate surrounding the McCutcheon case centers on the weight and balance of two concerns: (1) whether removing political contribution limits puts the government up for sale to the highest bidder, and (2) whether restrictions on individual political contributions serves as an inhibition to the individual’s right to free speech. When Money Speaks does a good job of presenting both sides and includes a detailed history of campaign finance laws, ample character development of the key players, equal explanation of the supporting data from the opposing viewpoints, and a thorough pre-