As our legal community honored seven amazing lawyers in our community earlier this month at the annual CBA & CBF Pro Bono & Public Service Awards Luncheon, we continued the recent tradition of kicking things off with a song to help set the stage for the event.
While this was not Bruce Springsteen’s first rodeo as the keynote song at the Luncheon, his Land of Hope and Dreams seemed particularly appropriate this year as we are in the midst of celebrating our nation’s 250th anniversary. Because wherever we are in the legal community, all of us who are lawyers, judges, and legal professionals are uniquely situated to help America remain that land of hope and dreams, and our honorees this year gave us a big dose of inspiration to do just that.
As we celebrate this historic milestone year, for all our imperfections as a country from the start, America is still the land of hope and dreams when we live up to our ideals. And access to justice has always been central to those ideals.
We sometimes forget, but in the preamble to the Constitution, “establish justice” is the first commitment the founders made to form a more perfect union. While it was not adopted until many years later, the Pledge of Allegiance to this day underscores that commitment, closing with the stanza we all can recite by heart: “…with liberty and justice for all.”
Yes, it took many years for justice for all to truly mean all of us no matter who we are, and while we know that remains a work in progress, it is no less fundamental to what makes our country that land of hope and dreams.
Access to justice is also central to upholding another fundamental tenet of our country: the Rule of Law.
Chief Justice Neville recently wrote a great column underscoring that point in the Court’s monthly newsletter that I commend to you. And as I wrote about last fall, one of Chief Justice Neville’s national peers–Chief Justice Nels Peterson of the Supreme Court of Georgia–gave a simple yet powerful definition of the Rule of Law in remarks last year that highlights its inextricable link with access to justice:
“No one is above the law’s requirements or beneath its protections.”
For the first part of that definition—that no one is above the law—Justice Peterson noted that it is especially true for holding the government to account, and I think it is fair to say that aspect of the Rule of Law is as well understood today as it has been in many years. Our third branch has been getting a workout on this front these past two years and is acquitting itself well.
As important as that work to hold the government and others in positions of power accountable under the law will always remain, it is the second part of Justice Peterson’s short definition—that no one is beneath the law’s protections—that is still too often overlooked yet remains just as critical.
And that is the work highlighted at the Luncheon, showing firsthand that wherever we are in the legal community, we have a special ability to help ensure that everyone can get the protection of the law that they deserve, not just people who can afford legal help.
If we just start with the great work we heard about at this year’s event, the people we are uniquely positioned to help include:
- Victims of domestic violence.
- Families wrongly placed in the crosshairs of DCFS.
- Immigrants seeking the protection promised them under our laws.
- Everyday people trying to navigate a complex court process alone.
- Children and adults in need of guardianships and protection.
- People unjustly facing eviction or housing discrimination.
- And so many more.
We all can make a real difference and help America remain the land of hope and dreams, and this year’s honorees gave us tremendous examples of how we can use the power of our unique knowledge, training, and experience to do so.