The Supreme Court in the Twilight Zone. February 17, 2019

This week I found myself pondering a story that brings together social, moral, religious, and legal dilemmas, all wrapped up in a single dramatic moment of life and death.

One of the great mysteries of life centers not on one’s earthly life, but on what happens right after the last breath is exhaled. Generations of theologians have produced mountains of pious books, the greatest philosophers have agonized over deep moral quandaries, and terrified believers have repented the worst (and often imagines) sins, all in the most monumental human effort to comprehend, ascertain, and prepare for the afterlife.

The person at the center of this particular true story is not a sympathetic character by a long stretch. Domineque Ray, 42, was convicted and sentenced to death in 1999 for the rape and murder of a teenage girl, Tiffany Harville, in Selma, Alabama. (He was simultaneously serving time for the murder of two teenage boys the year before Tiffany Harville’s murder). As with most capital punishments, it had taken two decades for various judicial proceedings and appeals to pave the way for the actual execution, which was scheduled for Thursday, February 7, 2019.

In fact, the last legal barrier was cleared less than two hours before Ray was executed, when the United States Supreme Court (in a 5 to 4 decision) denied Ray’s request (which the prison had refused) to have a clergy of his own Muslim faith accompany him into the execution chamber, rather than the prison’s chaplain, who is a Christian minister. The Supreme Court’s decision reversed a decision by the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals that granted a stay of execution based on the reasoning that the prison’s policy (to provide only a Christian clergyman during executions, no matter what’s the particular faith of the condemned prisoner) violated the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment’s Establishment Clause.

The majority in the Supreme Court gave only one reason: “Because Ray waited until January 28, 2019 to seek relief, we grant the State’s application to vacate the stay entered by the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. See Gomez v. United States Dist. Court for Northern Dist. of Cal., 503 U. S. 653, 654 (1992) (per curiam) (“A court may consider the last-minute nature of an application to stay execution in deciding whether to grant equitable relief.”).”

Justice Kagan, in her dissenting opinion wrote: “I think that decision profoundly wrong. “The clearest command of the Establishment Clause,” this Court has held, “is that one religious denomination cannot be officially preferred over another.” Larson v. Valente, 456 U. S. 228, 244 (1982). But the State’s policy does just that. Under that policy, a Christian prisoner may have a minister of his own faith accompany him into the execution chamber to say his last rites. But if an inmate practices a different religion—whether Islam, Judaism, or any other—he may not die with a minister of his own faith by his side. That treatment goes against the Establishment Clause’s core principle of denominational neutrality. See, e.g., Epperson v. Arkansas, 393 U. S. 97, 104 (1968) (“[Government] may not ... aid, foster, or promote one religion or religious theory against another”); Zorach v. Clauson, 343 U. S. 306, 314 (1952) (“The government must be neutral when it comes to competition between sects”).”

The majority’s reasoning (that Ray waited too long) begs several questions: first, after twenty years of legal proceedings, what damage could possibly be inflicted if the court allowed a short delay in order to consider this important constitutional issue on the merits. Second, the relief Ray sought did not involve the execution itself, his conviction, or his punishment, but rather a technical aspect of the execution that came up only after all substantive appeals had been resolved. (In Justice Kagan’s words: “The warden denied Ray’s request to have his imam by his side on January 23, 2019. And Ray filed his complaint five days later, on January 28.”) Third, while any decent person would shudder at the heinousness of the crimes Ray committed in 1995, today, in 2019, as his life is about to be terminated by the government according to the law, why do it in a manner that unnecessarily tramples his religion and hinders his ability to fully repent in accordance with his faith at the moment of paying the ultimate price for his crimes?

“Justice justice you shall pursue,” says the Bible (Deuteronomy 16:18), repeating the word “justice” twice in order to emphasize that it’s not enough to achieve justice, but the way we pursue it must also be just and fair. Similarly, in the famous 1924 English case of R v Sussex Justices, Ex parte McCarthy (concerning the appearance of judicial bias), Lord Hewart CJ said that it “is of fundamental importance that justice should not only be done, but should manifestly and undoubtedly be seen to be done.” Considering the polarized political, racial, and xenophobic atmosphere in America today (and the Supreme Court’s recent qualified approval of the Administration’s Muslim travel ban), it is only reasonable for many to wonder: Would the Court’s majority have ruled differently if Ray were not an adherent of Islam?

Avraham Azrieli

www.AzrieliBooks.com

Anthony Hopkins Turns 402 Years Old! February 10, 2019

Hi Everyone,

Last week I wrote about the curious common denominators in my three favorite activities: riding, running, and writing.  There is, however, one important difference: the future.

Riding and running are of the moment. Whether I’m strapping on the helmet or lacing up the sneakers, there’s the expectation of joy – tangible, physical, sensory experience that lasts as long as the activity (with lingering sense of achievement and a few muscle aches). Writing is equally a tangible, physical, sensory experience, but it has a long-lasting virtue that goes beyond my own individual involvement.

I was reminded of this aspect while reading a fascinating interview with Yngve Slyngstad, CEO of Norway’s sovereign wealth fund (the world's largest). Explaining the three purposes for the fund’s existence, Mr. Slyngstad went through the first two (stabilize oil revenues and maintain reserve funding), but emphasized the third: Generational fund:

“That’s probably the most important part. We generally believe—at least this is the construct—that there’s no one in our generation who has any specific entitlement to the revenue stream of the North Sea just because the revenue is coming in our generation. It is wealth that was there a long time before this generation existed, and it’s wealth that we should protect for our grandchildren and their grandchildren.”

Admittedly, a trillion dollars is stunningly tangible, but Mr. Slyngstad’s words, I feel, also apply to creative endeavors in general and, in my case, to writing novels and screenplays. Take, for example, the longevity of stories told in the Bible and Greek mythology, or the still best-selling Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, and Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling. And there is King Lear, a stage play William Shakespeare wrote in 1606, which has been performed, viewed, and read by every generation since then, most recently adapted for modern viewers in a 2018 film staring Anthony Hopkins as the title character – which in a way makes our generation’s most beloved actor 402 years old!

Clearly, people love good stories and keep telling them, one generation to the next. Admittedly, reading books these days has taken a second seat to watching actors on screens, fueled by the advent of limitless video streaming of lifelike action. (At the same time, the technological revolution also created a terrific market for electronic books, which endowed the joy of reading with immediate delivery, quality ratings, and endless choices. My novels, in fact, sell in e-book format 90% of the time.) The next phase, which is already taking hold, allows for active viewer participation in stories weaved into video games and virtual reality technology, which promises an ever-rising sensory immersion and active participation.

Notwithstanding the medium of delivery, a good story (like a good actor) will always find a passionate audience. That’s why I believe Mr. Slyngstad’s words apply to all good stories – the classics and those written today – as they are another form of “wealth that we should protect for our grandchildren and their grandchildren.” Perhaps I’m being presumptuous, but this idea motivates me to go on writing novels, empowered by the aspiration to stimulate my current and future readers, viewers, players, and whatever new medium comes around to reenergize the art and joy of storytelling for future generations.

Have a great week,

Avi.

Avraham Azrieli

www.AzrieliBooks.com

Arctic Blast to Thermal Whiplash – February 6, 2019

Hi Everyone,

When we lived in Arizona, experiencing weather change required driving up to the beautiful White Mountains, but here in Maryland, the four distinct seasons are often interspersed with mild days that soften the blow of winter or the torridness of summer, as the case may be. The past week, however, gave us the most extreme weather swings, going overnight from an icy, sub-zero Arctic Blast to a sunny, springtime bliss. This rare Thermal Whiplash had me shuffling through powdery snow to the mailbox one day, and on the next, grinning inside my helmet as I leaned the motorcycle into a perfect curve on the way to meeting a similarly giddy friend – followed by an afternoon 5-mile jog in the woods.

The joy of riding and running on a winter day made me think of how closely these activities relate to writing. First, there is forward motion through unfolding scenery, propelled by dogged perseverance. Second, all three activities require my undivided presence – physically and mentally – with total focus, concentration, and dedication to the journey and to the safe arrival at a destination (in a novel, it’s “The End.”) Third, riding and jogging bombard me with intense sensory inputs – sights, sounds, and scents, as well as the thrills of motorized acceleration and the tenacity of uphill footwork. The unique combination of stimulation and solitude (in the helmet or among the woods) produces rich creative energy that fuels new ideas for my writing – plots twists and turns, characters’ traits and motives, and snippets of razor-sharp dialogue.

Speaking of writing, I’ve started the fifth book in the “Deborah Rising” series. Meanwhile, the third book is done and ready to go to press (or the e-book Cloud), and the fourth is well into the editing process. I envision a total of seven books in the series, culminating in Deborah leading her army against the Canaanite superpower of the era in a final battle for freedom that tests her mantle as the Israelite nation’s top religious, political, and military leader—a role not reached by another woman in any nation until many centuries later.

Have a great week,

Avi.

Avraham Azrieli
www.AzrieliBooks.com