LETTERS the Bureau of Labor and Industries and small claims courts. As a society, we should accept the proposition that justice should not be based on the ability to pay. Our conver- sation should be about increasing funding for Legal Services, DOJ, BOU, public le- gal education and other services. iStock Jane Edwards, Portland Another View on Legal Education I appreciate Jennie Bricker’s article updating us on changes in legal educa- tion (“No more pencils, no more books?” August/September 2016). The lack of jobs for recent law school graduates, however, cannot be addressed by chang- ing law school teaching methods or curricula. The problem is not the lack of demand for legal services — in my “civilian” life I, like many of you, meet people who need legal services — but lack the funds to pay for legal services. Others have some money to pay a lawyer but don’t know how to find one and are scared off by tales of high prices. Many people are unaware of how the legal system works or what their basic le- gal rights are and consequently fall vic- tims to scam artists. Others are unaware of government agencies and programs that can help them, such as the Department of Justice Consumer Protection Division, Let’s Be Free of Excessive Rules The article “Bowling with Barbar- ians” (May 2016) talks about implicit bias and a new clause of RPC 8.4, which makes it misconduct to “knowingly in- timidate or harass a person ... because of ... race, color, national origin, religion, age, sex, gender identity, gender expres- sion, sexual orientation, marital status, or disability.” First, people of different groups have to talk to each other in order to reduce the biases that everyone has. This is dif- ficult in itself, but when talk about race and sexual orientation, and all the other arcane categories, becomes criminalized, as it is here, then no one talks and instead of mild bias, hatred and prejudice grow between groups, both the majority groups and the minority groups:. The beatings will not cease until morale is improved. Second, this is a First Amendment issue, as I am sure has already been dis- cussed. The Constitution protects speech and particularly political speech not only when it is scholarly but also when it is rough and robust and hurtful. One can criticize people or institutions on the ba- sis of any of the many categories listed in Rule 8.4, even though some such speech is incredibly rude and inappropriate. There is a reasonably well-adjudicated border between speech and threats. such that threats can be punished and speech cannot, but there is no border between “harassment” and “intimidation,” not that I know of, in the context of lawyer speech. A rule prohibiting such speech exerts a chilling and censoring effect on lawyers because lawyers are afraid they will collect bar complaints for what they say about all these things: age, sex, mar- riage, gender expression and more. Law- yers will be afraid to talk and this cuts into their ability to help their clients. And so, this clause of RPC 8.4 appears to violate the federal and perhaps the state constitution. We live in a country now where the parties of the right and the parties of the left seem to hate each other, and even forbid their children from social- izing with those of a different political faith. Yet we are all human, all Ameri- cans, at least in the bar, and we should all acknowledge that and work to bind up these wounds in our nation. It would help to be free of excessive rules such as this clause of RPC 8.4. Roger B. Ley, Svensen, Ore. We Love Letters The Bulletin welcomes letters. In gen- eral, letters should pertain to recent ar- ticles, columns or other letters and should be limited to 250 words. Other things to keep in mind: Letters must be original and addressed to the Bulletin editor and should pertain to letters to the editor, articles or columns recently published in the Bulletin. Letters must be signed. Unsigned or anonymous letters will not be published. (There are exceptions. Inquire with the editor.) Send letters to: Editor, OSB Bulle- tin, P.O. Box 231935, Tigard, OR 97281. HOW TO REACH US: In Oregon, call us toll-free at (800) 452-8260. In the Portland area and outside Oregon, our number is (503) 620-0222. The fax num- ber is (503) 684-1366. Email addresses and voice mail extension numbers for Bulletin staff are: Paul Nickell, editor, pnickell@osbar.org (ext. 340); Julie Hankin, associate editor, jhankin@osbar.org (ext. 391); and Spencer Glantz, classified advertising and lawyer announcements, sglantz@osbar.org (ext. 356). ADVERTISING: For display advertising rates and information, please contact our display advertising representative, Paul Vollmar, LLM Publications, (503) 445- 2222; (800) 657-1511 ext. 2220; email: paul@llm.com; website: www.llm.com. For classified and lawyer announcement advertising rates and information, please call Spencer Glantz at OSB, (503) 620-0222 or toll-free in Oregon, (800) 452-8260, ext. 356; email: advertising@osbar.org. OCTOBER 2016 • OREGON STATE BAR BULLETIN 5