(Photo by Apu Gomes/Getty Images)
It’s getting so as you can’t publicly call for the assassination of a sitting vice president without people getting all offended. Cancel culture, amirite?
Alas, despite the sophomoric pleading coming from disgruntled dudes on the internet, there isn’t anything wrong with private actors meting out consequences based on your speech and Lin Wood found that out when the Lawyers Club of Atlanta revoked his membership.
The Lawyers Club, a posh home-away-from-the-office for Georgia attorneys, announced online that they had ruled against letting Wood continue to frequent their halls:
“Mr. Wood’s call for the summary execution of the Vice President is an attack not only on the Vice President performing his Constitutionally required obligation, but also is an attack on the rule of law and the Constitution itself,” the club wrote in its ruling, describing Wood’s execution demand as conduct that would “bring discredit to the Club.”
Well, yeah. You can’t enjoy your Manhattan when the guy at the end of the bar is ranting about how Chief Justice Roberts runs a sex trafficking ring. I think we all prefer our post-work war stories to be free of hearing about the time your case ended up spawning a $1.3B lawsuit.
There are people out there defending Lin Wood’s comments who constantly bring up Kathy Griffin joking about decapitating Trump as though that’s some sort of universal excuse to talk about killing government officials. Except Griffin is recognized as a comic and was making a joke about something Trump specifically said, while Wood has confirmed that he seriously thought Pence should be killed by firing squad. Sure, Griffin isn’t actually funny, but that doesn’t change the context.
The Lawyer’s Club also disapproved of Wood’s social media posts accusing Chief Justice John Roberts of somehow being involved in the death of late Justice Antonin Scalia and belonging to a “cabal” premised on the sexual abuse of children. To support his claims against Roberts, Wood provided the club with a video of an “anonymous” whistleblower who appears to be a QAnon promoter who was previously convicted of committing healthcare fraud to illicitly score massive amounts of opioids.
The important point getting slipped in here is that Wood actually tried to defend himself here. I assumed this was one of those situations where the club sent him a letter and he just moved on with his life. But, no, apparently he tried to push back with the help of healthcare fraudster online wackos. Has he shown this video to Mercer University President Bill Underwood? Is that why Underwood is basically the last remotely credible person on the planet who hasn’t tried to distance themselves from Wood?
The Lawyers Club of Atlanta was founded in 1922 to discuss what to do with unethical fellow practitioners. Given that history, it’s hard to imagine Wood couldn’t have seen this coming while he faces sanctions for his post-election shenanigans.
Meanwhile, Wood is seeking to appeal the club’s decision. Good luck with all that.
Lin Wood Booted From Lawyers Club After Calling for Pence’s Execution [Daily Beast]
Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.