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Catholic. On Ash Wednesday, the judge removed the spot of ash from his
forehead and told the bailiff to instruct the others to do likewise. The sight
of a judge, two prosecutors and twelve jurors, every one with a spot of ash
on their foreheads, would have all the surrealistic flavor of a Lenny Bruce
fantasy.

Since he often talked on stage about his environment, and since
police cars and courtrooms had become his environment, the content of
Lenny's performances began to revolve more and more around the
inequities of the legal system. "In the Halls of Justice," he declared, "the
only justice is in the halls." But he also said, "I love the law." Instead of
an unabridged dictionary, he now carried law books in his suitcase. His
room was cluttered with tapes and transcripts and photostats and law
journals and legal briefs.

Once he was teasing his ten-year-old daughter, Kitty, by pretending
not to believe what she was telling him. "Daddy," she said, "you'd
believe me if it was on tape."

Lenny's jazz jargon was gradually being replaced by legal jargon. He
had become intimate not only with the statutes concerning obscenity and
narcotics but also with courtroom procedure, and his knowledge would be

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