Former Utah Chief Justice Becomes Buddhist Monk

April 30, 2004

Source: The Deseret Morning News

http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,595058204,00.html

On April 30, 2004 The Deseret Morning News reported, "The robe is black, with a rope around the waist and fabric that drapes voluminously through the sleeves. So now, as Mike Zimmerman stands before his teacher and prepares to sit, he must arrange the robe just so, folding and tucking and folding some more. He once was chief justice of the Utah Supreme Court. In those days he wore a different black robe, but that was then and this is now, and, as any Buddhist knows, then is not so important. In those days he sat on the bench. Now he is sitting, cross-legged, on the floor...He retired from the Utah Supreme Court in 2000, and now he is a lawyer. A Zen Buddhist monk who is also a partner in the firm of Snell & Wilmer."