The Author

Published at: 11:07 pm - Sunday July 26 2009
John L. Hodge
J.D., Ph.D.

John L. Hodge is a lawyer, a former college professor, and a writer of challenging nonfiction that reveals the interconnections among personal beliefs and assumptions, cultural traditions, and social and political growth. His writings also show how our personal fulfillment and democratic social-political growth are intertwined.

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Health Care Lawyer
He works as a lawyer in the Massachusetts state agency that provides Medicaid and other health care benefits to low-income residents–benefits called “MassHealth.” For over fifteen years he has been a consistent part of the teams that have developed and made MassHealth one of the key components of health care reform, reform that has successfully made Massachusetts a national leader in greatly reducing the percentage of people who do not have health care coverage. Many key features of health care reform in Massachusetts are incorporated in proposed national legislation designed to bring universal health care to the nation.
Philosophy Professor
Before becoming a lawyer, he taught for over ten years in colleges and universities in the Seattle area and the San Francisco area, and was a tenured professor in the Philosophy Department at California State University, Hayward. His courses connected historically significant philosophical and ethical issues to contemporary social and political events, and included courses in human rights, social ethics, racial conflict, gender discrimination, and practical logic. He had to fight for tenure by initiating a lawsuit, but the split faculty ended up supporting his innovative approach. After getting tenure, he left his position to practice law and to move to New England with his family.
Academic Credentials
His academic credentials are extensive: ? Ph.D., Philosophy, Yale University
? J.D. (Law), University of California at Berkeley (“Boalt Hall”)
? A.B., Mathematics, University of Kansas
At the University of Kansas he received a Summerfield Scholarship, a Boeing scholarship, a Hamilton award for best humanities student majoring in a science, and a Danforth Fellowship for graduate study. He was also awarded Phi Beta Kappa.
Publications
He is the principal co-author of a book, Cultural Bases of Racism and Group Oppression: An Examination of Traditional “Western” Concepts, Values and Institutional Structures Which Support Racism, Sexism and Elitism (Two Riders Press, 1975), a book that has been used as a text and recommended reading in many colleges and universities and still has a presence on some websites. He has also written two book chapters addressing democracy and social change: “Equality: Beyond Dualism and Oppression,” Chapter 6 of Anatomy of Racism, ed. David Theo Goldberg (University of Minnesota Press, 1990); and “Democracy and Free Speech: A Normative Theory of Society and Government,” Chapter 5 of The First Amendment Reconsidered, ed. B.F. Chamberlin and C.J. Brown (Longman, 1982). His legal article also reflects his social concerns: “Deadlocked Jury Mistrials, Lesser Included Offenses, and Double Jeopardy,” Criminal Justice Journal, Vol. 9, No. 1, Fall, 1986, pp. 9 – 44. New books are in progress.
Peace Activist
While writing his Ph.D. dissertation, he participated in various activities opposing the U.S. involvement in the war in Vietnam. For three of these years he was a peace intern and draft counselor for the American Friends Service Committee in its offices in Houston and Seattle. He was granted status as a conscientious objector and, thus, not drafted to fight in a war he opposed. (During that time, the bulk of the U.S. military consisted of involuntarily drafted young males.)
Personal
He was born in 1939 in Lawrence, Kansas and grew up in Kansas City, Kansas. His grandfather was principal of the former Sumner High School in Kansas City, Kansas. His father, John E. Hodge, was a noted chemist. His mother, who also was a chemist, died two years after his birth. While in high school, he won local and national awards for his science fair exhibits. He has one son, Jascha Franklin-Hodge, who is a cofounder of bluestatedigital.com. He lives with his wife in the Boston area and has lived in New England since 1980.
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John L. Hodge, J.D., Ph.D.

John L. Hodge is a lawyer, a former college professor, and a writer of challenging nonfiction that reveals the interconnections among personal beliefs and assumptions, cultural traditions, and social and political growth. His writings also show how our personal fulfillment and democratic social-political growth are intertwined.

/

Health Care Lawyer

He works as a lawyer in the Massachusetts state agency that provides Medicaid and other health care benefits to low-income residents–benefits called “MassHealth.” For over fifteen years he has been a consistent part of the teams that have developed and made MassHealth one of the key components of health care reform, reform that has successfully made Massachusetts a national leader in greatly reducing the percentage of people who do not have health care coverage. Many key features of health care reform in Massachusetts are incorporated in proposed national legislation designed to bring universal health care to the nation.

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Philosophy Professor

Before becoming a lawyer, he taught for over ten years in colleges and universities in the Seattle area and the San Francisco area, and was a tenured professor in the Philosophy Department at California State University, Hayward. His courses connected historically significant philosophical and ethical issues to contemporary social and political events, and included courses in human rights, social ethics, racial conflict, gender discrimination, and practical logic. He had to fight for tenure by initiating a lawsuit, but the split faculty ended up supporting his innovative approach. After getting tenure, he left his position to practice law and to move to New England with his family.

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Academic Credentials

His academic credentials are extensive:

  • Ph.D., Philosophy, Yale University
  • J.D. , University of California at Berkeley School of Law (“Boalt Hall”)
  • A.B., Mathematics, University of Kansas

At the University of Kansas he received a Summerfield Scholarship, a Boeing scholarship, a Hamilton award for best humanities student majoring in a science, and a Danforth Fellowship for graduate study. He was also awarded Phi Beta Kappa.

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Publications

  • He has also written two book chapters addressing democracy and social change:

“Equality: Beyond Dualism and Oppression,” Chapter 6 of Anatomy of Racism, ed. David Theo Goldberg (University of Minnesota Press, 1990);

“Democracy and Free Speech: A Normative Theory of Society and Government,” Chapter 5 of The First Amendment Reconsidered, ed. B.F. Chamberlin and C.J. Brown (Longman, 1982).

Peace Activist

While writing his Ph.D. dissertation, he participated in various activities opposing the U.S. involvement in the war in Vietnam. For three of these years he was a peace intern and draft counselor for the American Friends Service Committee in its offices in Houston and Seattle. He was granted status as a conscientious objector and, thus, not drafted to fight in a war he opposed. (During that time, the bulk of the U.S. military consisted of involuntarily drafted young males.)

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Personal

He was born in 1939 in Lawrence, Kansas and grew up in Kansas City, Kansas. His grandfather was principal of the former Sumner High School in Kansas City, Kansas. His father, John E. Hodge, was a noted chemist. His mother, who also was a chemist, died two years after his birth. While in high school, he won local and national awards for his science fair exhibits. He has one son, Jascha Franklin-Hodge, who is a cofounder of bluestatedigital.com. His wife, Diane Franklin, is a consultant for nonprofit organizations and small businesses. They live in the Boston area and have lived in New England since 1980.

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