I am sure I am not the only person puzzled by your choice of headline: “How a Disbarred Lawyer Came to Deliver a Hero’s Final Plea” in your coverage of Congressman John Lewis’ funeral. Perhaps you can explain why former Mayor Bill Campbell’s bar status was relevant to the story. If you were aiming for coverage of lawyers who spoke at the service, you missed the fact that another “disbarred lawyer,” President Bill Clinton, also paid homage to Mr. Lewis. Of course, that fact was hardly relevant to his role at the service. Another lawyer, President Barack Obama, gave the eulogy and used the occasion as a clarion call for all of us to remember that John Lewis gave his life in pursuit of the higher calling of making the founding legal documents mean what the words say. Noting President Obama’s bar status, under the circumstances, would have added nothing to his classic warning and eulogy. I doubt very seriously the aim was to highlight lawyers appearing at the Homegoing service of the late, great John Lewis. So why the headline?

In case anyone has convenient amnesia, former Mayor Campbell’s loss of his standing at the Bar had nothing to do with any conduct as a practicing attorney. Nothing. Moreover, former Mayor Campbell was not at the service as a lawyer; made no reference to the fact that he formerly practiced; nor made any mention of his time at the bar. Surely the headline was not designed to scold the Lewis family or criticize their choice of speakers. The family of John Lewis, like Congressman Lewis, believes in redemption and forgiveness and friendship unanchored by mutual benefit. The family had the right to choose the speakers and made the decision to have former Mayor Campbell speak because John Lewis was his friend. Certainly, the family and Congressman Lewis were aware of his bar status but they were not retaining him to appear in court or provide legal advice. Rather, Mayor Campbell came to honor his friend, his colleague and his hero at a time when Black people are under pernicious attack as is the Republic. Mayor Campbell’s comments were insightful, personal, and poignant. I doubt anyone who heard them (especially since it was received with universal acclaim) were at all focused on Mayor Campbell but were instead appropriately focused on the icon in repose whom he honored.