An interview of Professor Samuel Wilson by Bastien Moal On a rainy Wednesday morning in Taipei, I was on my way to interview a former U.S. prosecutor, lawyer, and federal judge who recently began to teach U.S. Criminal Law at NTU. I was riding my bike, attempting to stay dry, when I started to question whether I had the capacity to interview someone who had so much experience in law and in life in general. But before I could doubt myself any longer, Professor Wilson invited me to enter his office. Prof. Wilson is the kind of person who makes you feel comfortable immediately, his bright eyes and his warm smile will certainly make you forget that he was until last year a Federal Judge of the United States, settling difficult cases, facing criminals, and listening to troubled stories in a Virginia courtroom. Some people may wonder why such a successful lawyer decided to leave his seat? Federal judges can serve for life or partially retire, like one of Prof. Wilson’s colleagues, who served until the ripe old age of 90. But Prof. Wilson felt that he needed to move on, partly because he was one of the youngest federal judges, having been appointed by then President, George H. W. Bush. He also thought he should “put the power down,” since he felt that “power is a lens that is capable of distorting a more beautiful reality”. If you have watched House of Cards you will know how people can become crazy about any kind of power. Luckily, Prof. Wilson is not someone like this at all! Moreover, Prof. Wilson stated that he wanted to discover something of the world: doing something different and stepping out of his comfort zone in a foreign country. Forty years of working in the same country and in the same legal system made him see everything in a certain way. The only way to break out of that was to expose himself to a different culture. He chose Taiwan after discussing the matter with one of his friends who used to be an NTU student. An important factor was that Taiwan was an island democracy in a very dynamic region, and he decided he wanted to see it for himself. His wife was happy with the change, but his daughter had different ideas! In July 2015, he will have been in Taiwan for 11 months. Except for some concerns about the driving habits of scooters, Prof. Wilson enjoys living here, and he seems very curious about the Taiwanese government and how Taiwan has managed to “take the best of what is in the world.” Prof. Wilson in Taiwan. Teaching to N.T.U. students, however, has required some changes. This is because Prof. Wilson used to teach students who had already passed the Bar. He also pointed out the huge difference between the way he was taught law and the way things are done now. Some teachers used to run their classes like a small autocracy (to use Prof. Wilson’s word); careful preparation rather than correct answers was the key to enduring the interrogations of the teacher, which might take place for more than one hour while standing in class.
Prof. Wilson doesn’t miss anything from his previous job. He believes that every job he has had was a blessing or a piece of luck. He assured me multiple times that he was not the best candidate to be appointed as a judge, and that many people could have been named instead. This is why he was so surprised when he received a call from the White House that he had been selected as a federal judge. There is a saying in the U.S. legal world that this is as common as being struck by a bolt of lightning. It is hard to describe how modest Prof. Wilson is about these things. I wondered whether he would accept a position on the U.S. Supreme Court? Laughing, he interrupted me and said that this was impossible! I asked him if, considering his experience, he could give students, aspiring lawyers, or judges some advice for their careers. He immediately answered: “Nobody would take my advice!” But then he humbly added, “Everything should be an experience. Enjoy life all the way through. There is no ‘best way’ to get to your destination.” Recently, Prof. Wilson invited a journalist, Doug Pardue, to give two speeches at NTU. Mr. Pardue has investigated domestic violence towards women and wrote Till Death Do Us Part, which you can read on the Internet. He won the Pulitzer Prize Gold Medal Award for Public Service in 2015. Prof. Wilson believes in the importance of a free press and considers that journalists play an important role in society. Prof. Wilson admires them for their clarity and their intelligence, but also for the fact that they worked hard to be knowledgeable. Regarding the current social troubles going on in the United States, Prof. Wilson thinks that the problems of today are the unsolved issues of yesterday. Indeed, in one of our first classes, Prof. Wilson showed us that race bias toward Afro-Americans was an ongoing thing. It might take a while to be resolved, he said, and he emphasized that the over-criminalization of U.S. law could be one contributing factor. As our interview came to an end, I asked Prof. Wilson if he would share one last thought with us. He said to me (and to you, dear readers), to enjoy life as it comes, because it goes fast… Before I left, I couldn’t help but feel how kind and warmhearted he was. He even showed me photos of a recent trip he made to Beijing. I should add something else before finishing this story. All during our meeting, Prof. Wilson talked about his family and I saw how important it was to him. We talked about his parents (his father was in the U.S. army and fought in France during World War II), his uncle, and his wife, who seems to be very important to him. He also talked about his daughters and his grandchild, a photo of whom is given a special place in his office. We in his class will always remember this photo, which Prof. Wilson showed us on his iPad with the smile of a satisfied grandpa, and then immediately apologized for his annoying “old people behavior.” Not at all, I would like to tell Prof. Wilson that he looks much younger and more dynamic that he thinks he is! Thanks to Professor Samuel Wilson for kindly agreeing to this interview, to Wei-An, his teaching assistant, who helped me, and to my classmate Sean Lin for correcting and improving my questions. a
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Authors
The Taida Student Journal has been active since 1995 with an ever-changing roster of student journalists at NTU. Click the above link to read about the authors Archives
May 2024
|