A top attorney and highly-paid school superintendent behave as if they are brain-damaged alcoholics.
Under watch:
Defense attorney Stephen Charles Hollingsworth, who according to the L.A. Times was cited”again”by L.A. County Superior Court Judge John J. Cheroske for lateness, failure to appear and “other strange courtroom behavior.”The latter may include the time he limped in with a crutch and blamed his tardiness on a knee injury. Deputy District Attorney Christopher Frisco said, “Then someone called him from the audience and he walked up to them, forgetting his crutches and his limp.”When he failed to show up at a preliminary hearing, court staff called two phone numbers he had provided. Neither one worked, so the judge, who was “not happy,”issued an arrest warrant. After Hollingsworth showed up for a new hearing 35 minutes late (on a Monday morning, of course) wearing a “rumpled suit over a T-shirt, with no tie,”Cheroske found him in contempt of court and had him taken into custody. As is true of many of the cases listed in the “under watch”section, one would be hard-pressed to imagine an explanation for Mr. Hollingsworth’s behaviors other than alcoholism, but due to the requirement that addictive use be proven for the privilege of appearing in the “runners-up”section, we’ll leave him here for now. However, because he probably would be really fun to watch, if anyone reading this knows him, please do chime up!
As explained in the July 2007 www.ThorburnAddictionReport.com and elsewhere, the lack of direct evidence of addictive use relegates many lawyers, law enforcers, politicians and professionals to this section. This is true, as well, for lawyer Melvyn Weiss, who will begin serving a 30-month prison term for his role in a decades-long scheme to pay plaintiffs kickbacks for helping bring class-action lawsuits against corporate behemoths including AT&T, Xerox and United Airlines, who may well have not been as guilty as he made them appear. Because alcoholics are superb at “gaming”systems, they may well be largely responsible for the tort liability disasters consumers have been paying for over the last few decades.
Clayton County, Georgia School Superintendent John Thompson, PhD., who not only handed out 1,000 blank pieces of paper to graduates at a ceremony in lieu of high school diplomas, but also ordered the “real”diplomas”nearly 3,000 in all”shredded after learning his name wasn’t on them. He demanded that they be reprinted”with his name, of course”which would have cost taxpayers $80,000 had the printer not offered new ones at no additional charge. Thompson, who was hired on April 28 at a yearly salary of $285,000 after requesting $500,000 plus perks, claimed the diplomas were invalid because they were signed by the former superintendent. Funny, the Department of Education says they’re valid. Thompson, in a rather bizarre defense of himself, said he has “repeatedly responded publicly to each of the allegations listed, refuting each.”Sounds like hyperbole, since the record seems to show only two simple facts: he ordered perfectly valid diplomas shredded at a cost he will not bear. So, let’s make a real allegation, Mr. Thompson: you want to see your name in the lights so long as it doesn’t cost you a dime. And regarding cost, you are quoted as having said, once again in hyperbolic fashion, “What does it matter if it costs $25,000, $50,000, or $1 million, if you are providing children with something that will last for a lifetime? If wanting to do the right thing for children is wrong, then I don’t want to be right.”The attitude that “it’s only other people’s money, so screw them”is one often held by egomaniacs, as is the belief that they are worth far more than they are paid. As described with the aid of numerous real-life examples in “Drunks, Drugs & Debits” and “How to Spot Hidden Alcoholics,” egomania and hyperbole are usually products of alcoholism.