Baltimore-area lawyers reveal their New Year's resolutions

- Byron L. Warnken, associate professor of law, University of Baltimore School of Law

To continue to contribute to the community of Baltimore and Maryland through maintaining active participation between my university's law school and the Maryland Bar, and to increase my weight load by 30 percent in my Body Pump classes.

- Barbara Ann White, associate professor of law, University of Baltimore School of Law

My hope for the year 2005, and all the years that follow, is that civility can find its rightful place in politics.

- J. Joseph Curran Jr., Attorney General

To savor the time between January 1, 2005 and December 31, 2005 so that 2005 does not fly by as quickly as 2004!

- Hon. Diane O. Leasure, 5th Circuit & County Administrative Judge, Circuit Court for Howard County

To encourage the students in my seminar on the constitutional rights of children to do some reading outside the scope of cases and law review articles. One favorite book of mine is 'Forgiving the Dead Man Walking,' by Debbie Morris. It's the true-life, first-person story of one of the victims of [Robert Lee Willie], who would later become the subject of Sister Helen Prejean's renowned 'Dead Man Walking.' The author tells what it was like to learn to forgive this man for his senseless violence, and how she discovered that forgiveness is not a project, but rather a long and sometimes painful process. Her account of watching her own daughter go on her first date at 16, and recalling that she was 16 herself when she was abducted and nearly killed, is riveting.

I've never seen a better explanation of forgiveness - it's hard work, but we have to do it. Having an understanding of this is important for every student who studies the law. There is something intangibly human in the legal process, and if we ignore it then we are not seeking justice, but rather revenge.

- Gilbert Holmes, dean, University of Baltimore School of Law

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