I wrote about the use of Mr. and Ms. in Writing Conventions -- Mr. and Ms. in February 2021. After watching of Your Honor on NetFlix, I thought it worthwhile to revisit the issue. Spoiler alert, if you intend to watch the series and don't want to read the first three pages of the last chapter of the book first, just go back to the 2021 post.
Breonna Taylor was shot and killed by police officers in Louisville, Kentucky, during the service of a no knock warrant. The protests that followed carried the cry, "Say her name." ABC produced a multi-part documentary about Taylor. YouTube lists six videos, #SayHerName, an open letter to the mother of Breonna Taylor. Stripping Taylor of her name removes the human from the equation. Our culture demands that we recognize the person by saying their name.
Back to Your Honor. The plot line related to the point of this piece, to say the name of our clients, is simple. Eugene Jones is on trial for trying to kill the son of a mobster that killed his brother (Kofi) but ends up killing the son (Adam) of a dishonored judge (Desiato) that tried to cover up the son's hit and run that killed the younger son (Rocco) of the mobster. That's all we need to know. To the pivotal scene, Eugene tells the jury that his mother had been busted for possession of drugs. Desiato dismisses the charges because the cops lied. The cops arrested Kofi for stealing Desiato's car, the one that Adam drove in the hit and run.
Eugene describes the next day, he left the house to go get food because the family had not eaten all day. On his way back, the house explodes with his mother and three younger siblings inside. After further examination by defense counsel, the prosecutor objects on the grounds that the question mischaracterized "the deaths of a mother and her children." Eugene responds, "they have names." The judge in the trial asks Eugene to repeat what he said:
Everyone keeps saying ... mother and her children.
My mom was Female Jones, and her kids were Goodluck, Sophie, and Rose. And they have names.
Powerful scene beautifully rendered, and a poignant reminder that people have names. We don't speak to the consultative examiner by that title, we use the doctor's name. But it isn't the doctor's case yet we give more respect to the doctor than our own clients. Say her name.
Whether it is the real life story of Breonna Taylor or the fictional account of Eugene Jones saying the names of Female, Goodluck, Sophie, and Rose the result is the same. People want their names to be said. The speaking of their names makes their intrinsic humanity real.
I have long advocated for the use of our clients' last names in our briefing. The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure gives a hollow veil of privacy using the first name, and often the middle name or initial, and partially redacting the last name to the initial. The docket is a public record available on a multitude of websites. If I want to know the name of a client in a particular case, give me five minutes but I only need two. Rule 5.2 is lattice that provides a hint of privacy. So let's drop the charade and listen to our culture, say her name. She is a person with dignity and rights. She has the right to not be called by a demonstrative pronoun or a non-specific temporal status identifier. Say her name. If you want to use the first name and last initial, go for it. But please, your client is not "plaintiff" or even "Plaintiff."
Say her name.
Postscript -- I find it difficult to watch legal shows. I struggle to suspend reality. So I confess, Maggie watched the entire two seasons, I watched the first episode, parts of several others, and the last episode. Maggie filled me in on the plot lines and character development.
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Suggested Citation:
Lawrence Rohlfing, Writing Conventions Redux -- Say Her Name, California Social Security Attorney (October 14, 2024) https://californiasocialsecurityattorney.blogspot.com
The author has been AV-rated since 2000 and listed in Super Lawyers since 2008.
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