by Ryan McKeen
The fourth and final installment of my interview with George Jepsen.
RM: What are you most proud of in your 26 years of legal practice?
GJ: First, I am especially proud to have authored Connecticut’s current living will law because it has given peace of mind to tens of thousands of people in their terminal stages of an illness. Just as important, it’s given peace of mind to families who would withhold life-prolonging care because mom or dad made that decision for them. It’s simplified this extremely difficult time of life for a lot of people. To pass the law required understanding all the constitutional complexities. It required very careful drafting to make sure the words were precise and accurate and it required building a coalition who would take on and defeat the cultural conservatives to pass the bill. That’s one example.
Second, I am proud of Connecticut’s ban on assault weapons. Assault weapons are designed to maim human beings and to kill them. Connecticut’s assault weapons ban is one of the early ones in the nation, broad-based and it took a lot of work to get it through. It passed the House and the Senate by one vote in each case and there is no question in my mind that it has saved lives in this state. Connecticut has one of the lowest gun deaths per 100,000 people than any state. Connecticut’s assault weapon ban is one of the reasons. And yet no law abiding citizen or sportsmen is being denied access to their guns if they feel that they want them.
Third, when I graduated from law school, I took a job with the carpenters’ union. The issues that affected working men and women: wages, benefits, pensions, job site safety, long-term unemployment, disability — that was my work for nearly 10 years. It really had an impact on me. I think I understand people’s lives much better than I otherwise would. What private practice has given me, from the ground level, is a sense of how the law can have an impact on a person’s life and how it can have an impact on the economic climate in which businesses struggle to compete and survive.
I’ve also been extremely active in open space preservation. I strongly believe that quality of life is what makes Connecticut unique and that means clean water, clean air, open space, family farms and our historic heritage. I think we need to work to preserve what’s left of our natural and historic heritage. That’s what makes Connecticut a unique place to raise families and to grow a business. These are the issues that I am most proud of.
RM: Red Sox or Yankees?
GJ: Yankees, with apologies to my staff
RM: I’m a legal tech reviewer for the ABA Journal, so I’d be remiss if I don’t ask: Blackberry, Android Phone or iPhone?
GJ: Blackberry