On a Saturday morning, I stopped by my mother's house to mooch breakfast. While eating, I glanced at the morning newspaper which carried a story about a teenage burglar who had been fatally shot by police. He was fleeing, unarmed, from burglarizing a local high school. After refusing to stop, he was shot by police and later died from the wounds.

In discussing the matter with my mother, I asked whether she thought that the police had used excessive force.

Her answer was, "Not at all. He was a homicidal psychopath who would have sooner or later murdered somebody."

"Wait a minute," I replied. "I just read the same article as you did. How do you know so much about the boy?"

"Simple," responded my mother. "I was his lawyer."