I have flunked retirement! After 24 1/2 years as a Superior Court Judge, I stepped down in 2009. I am busier now than ever: I have a part time job (doing arbitrations and mediations) and a full time job (as Executive Director of the Western Justice Center -- a non-profit that does conflict resolution programs for schools and communities.)
I also have two volunteer gigs: I do international consulting on justice system issues with the Rule of Law Initiative of the American Bar Association and with the Office of Global Women's Issues of the State Department.
Among the most exciting work I've done on the international scene has been work with Iraq and Libya. In 2003, I was in Baghdad to do an assessment of the justice system (after Pres. Bush had said "Mission Accomplished.) The punchline to that trip was that I left the UN Headquarters an hour and a half before it was bombed! The next day, my colleagues and I decided we were not going to wait for the UN to evacuate us, so we hired a taxi driver with a Chevy Suburban to drive us 15 hours through hostile territory to get to Amman, Jordan. After that, I have taught several courses for Iraqi judges, lawyers and other citizens, who are trying to get their country together.
In January of this year (2012), I spent a week in Libya, also doing an assessment to figure out what post-Gaddafi Libya needed to get its justice system going. The difference was stark! The Libyans were friendly, enthusiastic and anxious to work with us. Among the graffiti that greeted us: "THANK YOU, NATO," "Go to Hell Gaddafi" and "Ask Not What Your Country Can Do for You; Ask What You Can Do for Your Country. JFK." One fellow captured the mood of all who we met. He said "We want freedom and democracy: We just don't know how." I'm heartbroken about the murder of our Ambassador and other diplomats,but am heartened by the pro-American and anti-terrorist demonstrations that followed around Libya.
That's all for now. As I've said to family and friends, "I'm not retired; I'm just plain tired." But I enjoy everything I do --it's all by choice. So I guess I'm pretty lucky.
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