Sound bites bite. In precious articles we have discussed how careful attention must be paid to photographs as well as to eyewitness testimony because either can mislead. I want to relate those same concepts to your everyday experience. There much to say on this topic but to fit the space here’s the shorthand version.. I am concerned by how quickly so many people accept as true something they see or hear in the news media or via social media. Knowing my readership, I realize I am preaching to the choir, but I am hoping I can encourage you to educate those whom you influence to think more critically.

“Black lives matter.” “Back the blue.” “All lives matter.” Which is true? (Sort of poetic, huh?) “Hillary knowingly revealed classified info.” “Donald favored the Iraq war.” True? False? I could write pages on those topics and that’s illustrative of the reason why one cannot effectively make decisions based upon sound bites or even upon most of the cell phone/dash-cam pictures we see. To “think like a lawyer” about these things means to be suspicious of everything, to consult multiple and diverse sources, to ask hard questions and to learn to “live with gray” meaning very little in life is genuinely black and white. I’m not suggesting we should not form and act on firm opinions, but only that they should be as unassailable as available information can make them. There is no perfect way to do this, but I approach it by reading one or more good newspapers daily including political commentary by commentators with different views, talking and listening to intelligent people who disagree with me, always checking Snopes.com when some hard to believe story surfaces, not limiting myself to only one visual media outlet such as CNN or Fox news, attending events where differing views are presented and avoiding sensationalized talk shows, websites, etcetera. Particularly regarding the current rash of officer-involved shootings the need to avoid a divisive rush to judgment is great. All lives – black, white or “blue” – matter and each incident is unique, so in that, as well as all other things, “think like a lawyer.”

Roland Brown is a litigation attorney with forty-plus years experience handling civil litigation throughout Texas. For more information call 512-847-2500 or visit RolandsLaw.com.