Philip M Carden Memorial

On Thursday, November 21, 1996 the Nashville Bar Association held a memorial service for the members who have died during the last year. Carroll Kilgore, a prominent local attorney spoke about Phil Carden from the following notes.

Philip M. Carden

1919-1996

Philip M. Carden was a newspaperman who became a lawyer, then made a career of offering his services exclusively to the bar, guiding other lawyers in their litigation by framing their pleading and handling their appeals. He was grateful that fate ordained that he be a native American born here, and gave him high intellect, but claimed no credit for these blessings, knowing that no one ever changed such basics by resolving to be twice as smart beginning tomorrow. He earned credit by his patriotism and his relentless pursuit of knowledge and wisdom. Every July 4th he threw a beer-and-firecracker bash, beginning with his own patriotic speech, before a large crowd drawn from all levels of society. He thought he could pursue the patriotic support of his country best by working as a lawyer.

Phil treasured economics, as knowledge essential to comprehend the dynamics of social life in a republic. He loved to quote a favorite early economist, that "any measure designed to save fools from the consequences of their folly will inevitably populate the earth with fools," and his favorite 20th Century economist, that "The study of economics is first duty of every citizen." This expressed the idea that unless enough citizens share this comprehension, the public cannot understand which political promises can't possibly be fulfilled, so that demagoguery will destroy the sound government that protects all.

A great lover of personal liberty above all things, he believed that government is the principal enemy of liberty. He also believed that government is the only effective defender of liberty - government guarded by an informed citizenry's eternal vigilance. Acknowledging that government should be respected, he insisted that to enjoy true respect government must be respectable. So he spent his career trying to teach government's courts what was required of them to deserve respect. Sometimes, he even succeeded, but he never compromised principle.

When he concluded that the federal courts were corrupt, he resigned from the bar of every federal court: On the same day that the U.S. Supreme Court ordered his resignation accepted for the protection of his honor, it ordered Richard Nixon's resignation accepted to cover his dishonor. When Phil concluded that the members of the Supreme Court of Tennessee were violating the State Constitution, he sued them all with the authorization of a district attorney. The defendant judges ordered the case removed to the Supreme Court from the trial court before any trial was had and then ordered it dismissed. Phil believed the historic record proved him right, because the judges exercised trial court Jurisdiction, which is prohibited by the Constitution they swore to uphold, and they sat as judges in their own cases, which is forbidden by every civilized system of justice. The press, ever admiring the uses of power, applauded the judges.

Phil Carden epitomized traits treasured by every ethical lawyer: Integrity, knowledge, character. He did not yearn for mob admiration, and had anyone appointed him to public office, his only act would have been to resign. So apparently without a trace, except in the memory of his friends, Phil Carden has passed into history. But he well knew that the only way to gain value from any idea is to give it away, so it can grow in the minds of others. Hence the enlightenment he quietly spread still lives and grows. For all anyone can ever know, he may prove an exception to the poetic observation that "the evil men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones."

The notes were signed by:
Judge Thomas H. Shriver
Cecil D. Branstetter
Carrol D. Kilgore

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