Federal probe violates attorney-client privilege
I’ve been practicing law in Baltimore for more than 50 years. I’ve known Joshua Treem almost that long, from his time as an assistant United States attorney and throughout his long and distinguished career in private practice (“DEA, IRS reviewed cache of emails amid ongoing criminal probe into Baltimore lawyers,” Sept. 10). He is one of the most highly-skilled and ethical lawyers in our community. I’ve had the honor of working with Mr. Treem on several matters. He is the consummate professional — a lawyer of unimpeachable integrity.
While I don’t know Kenneth Ravenell as well as I know Mr. Treem, I vividly recall observing him representing a poor African American client on the Eastern Shore about 20 years ago. The judge was making little effort to hide his racial animosity toward Mr. Ravenell and his client, and he went out of his way to try to bait Mr. Ravenell to say something that he might regret. Throughout the entire proceeding, Mr. Ravenell demonstrated admirable courage as he zealously and with great dignity advocated on behalf of his client, never once responding in kind to the judge’s taunts.
Messrs. Treem and Ravenell have earned the reputations they have established over decades of honorable service to the cause of justice. They do not deserve the way their present issues with the Department of Justice have been covered by The Sun. Despite a five-year investigation, they have not been charged with any wrongdoing. Mr. Treem is Mr. Ravenell’s lawyer in connection with that investigation. As someone who managed a major law firm for more than two decades, I find it almost inconceivable that the government has invaded the attorney client privilege that covers Mr. Ravenell’s communications with Mr. Treem. This is a deeply disturbing development that has not been reflected in your coverage.
BSO contract dispute hits a new low note
My scale reflects the toll the Baltimore Symphony’s dispute over contracts has taken on supporters like me (in sad moments, I’ve eaten a lot of chocolate). It’s been a summer to think about all sorts of “scales” — surely of the musical scales I believe our symphony musicians still practice daily even as the leadership of the Baltimore Symphony proposes to scale the orchestral enterprise back: shorter season, smaller paychecks, diminished reputation (“BSO musicians reject contract offer, jeopardizing season opening,” Sept. 11).
Our symphony hall, with its soaring ceiling, is built to scale for a world-famous orchestra. What will it become when there is no longer a first-class orchestra to draw a large discerning audience to downtown Baltimore? An Amazon distribution center? A roller rink? Offices with a food court? An air-conditioned city school? And what becomes of Strathmore?
This summer, Marin Alsop hoped to scale new heights, programming an array of contemporary women composers in honor of the 19th Amendment’s 100th year. With a heartbreaking decision, the summer season was cancelled. Loyal subscribers have in hand season tickets for 2019-20, but the autumn schedule is in jeopardy, too.
On a scale from 1 to 100, music-making in our beleaguered city has fallen to a new low.
Address trauma to make Baltimore a better city
The editorial “Make Baltimore a traumainformed city, but make sure it has the resources to make it successful” (Sept. 10) was a most excellent analysis on the root cause of Baltimore’s decline. Your summation “we are encouraged by the effort to make a cultural shift in the city, no matter how daunting it may be” is truly the only solution that will turn the city around. The culture that begets violence on all levels and all ages has to go.
Almost from birth, children are indoctrinated in a culture that uses screams and smacking around as forms of control. From that early start the violence escalates through childhood with hair-trigger tempers that flare up at the slightest of provocations. The end result is the murder tally that already stands at 241 with three and a half months to go till the end of the year.
Thank God that City Councilman Zeke Cohen has the wisdom to see that nothing will alter the city’s slide into oblivion until the culture that sows chaos and destruction is changed.