Democracy, democratic institutions, and the individuals who allow our rule of law to work are under siege by too many in our communities. This dangerous activity has a complex of explanations. Some of the reasons for these assaults are what people say and how people say it. The words we utter have consequences. Poet Maya Angelou educated us on the power and influence of what we say, “Words are things, I’m convinced. . . . Someday we’ll be able to measure the power of words. I think they are things. I think they get on the walls, they get in your wallpaper, they get in your rugs, in your upholstery, in your clothes. And, finally, into you.” Rigid, unreflective ideologies also explain the attacks on the individuals who make democracy work. This has existed since our inception as a nation.
February 03, 2025 Feature
Message to the Members, Winter 2025
Edward Monahan, Editor in Chief
George Washington’s 1796 Farewell Address warned against blind adherence to ideology or political party: “A fire not to be quenched, it demands a uniform vigilance to prevent its bursting into a flame, lest, instead of warming, it should consume.” In his article, “Threats Facing Public Officials: What Can Be Done to Safeguard Judges, Civil Servants, and the Rule of Law?,” David Sumner, executive director of the Pennsylvania Independent Regulatory Review Commission, lays out the chilling environment we face. He calls us to action: “We can all do our part by combatting disinformation, improving civil discourse, and turning down the rhetoric.” American Bar Association Resolution 108 calls us as lawyers to set the standard in our communities by the way we behave professionally. It “affirms the principle of civility as a foundation for democracy and the rule of law and urges lawyers to set a high standard for civil discourse as an example for others in resolving differences constructively and without disparagement of others.” We play an important part in shaping our future.
Rights Do Not Effectuate Themselves
Our rights in the Constitution, statutes, and regulations are mere ink on a page unless they are fully enforced. We often think of rights being enforced through a battle of legal adversaries in litigation, with each side seeking to win at all costs. But that is not the only way or even the predominant way rights are enjoyed by individuals. Every day, lawyers working for local, state, and federal government have a direct role in determining whether our government will ensure our rights. For example, in 1935, the U.S. Supreme Court made clear that a prosecutor’s role was not to win at all costs. The prosecutor
is the representative not of an ordinary party to a controversy, but of a sovereignty whose obligation to govern impartially is as compelling as its obligation to govern at all; and whose interest, therefore, in a criminal prosecution is not that it shall win a case, but that justice shall be done. . . . He may prosecute with earnestness and vigor—indeed, he should do so. But, while he may strike hard blows, he is not at liberty to strike foul ones. It is as much his duty to refrain from improper methods calculated to produce a wrongful conviction as it is to use every legitimate means to bring about a just one.
In her article, “Representing the Government and the Governed: A Mission-Driven Approach to Lawyering,” Prudence Beidler Carr, director of the American Bar Association’s Center on Children and the Law, calls each of us to do justice in all that we do every day.
What’s a Governmental Agency to Do?
The 2024 decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondohas changed the landscape of 1984’s Chevron deference. Does this render administrative agency efforts impossible? What must Congress do differently now? Can Congress muster the political will? How will people who benefit from responsible government regulation be harmed in the meantime? Ted Hirt, a professorial lecturer in law at the George Washington University Law School, provides important information and advice in his article, “The Demise of Chevron Deference: How Should Federal Agencies Respond?” We benefit from his 36 years as a career attorney in the Civil Division of the U.S. Department of Justice and his important opinion that with some “reorientation,” agencies “can adjust to this altered legal landscape and continue to advocate successfully for their interpretation of federal statutes.” He offers pragmatic, achievable strategies.
Enjoy Lawyers Living Greatly in the Law
Through the years, our fellow lawyers have improved the lives of many people in our communities with courage, adherence to values, and a desire for advancement of our civilization. The lawyers featured in the article “GPSLD Celebrates Public Service Achievements” by GPSLD Director Susan M. Kidd were recognized by the Division for their outstanding legal contributions, which have brought continued distinction to lawyers’ roles in promoting bedrock values of our democracy. As Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. observed, “It is possible to live greatly in the law.”
Realistic Hope Remains Our Work
This is no time for hopelessness. This is a time in our history to speak up for justice, to support our democratic values that are the bedrock of our country’s ideals, and to do our part each day. As Heather Cox Richardson, a political historian, observes,
Every day, people write to me and say they feel helpless to change the direction of our future. I always answer that we change the future by changing the way people think, and that we change the way people think by changing the way we talk about things. To that end, I have encouraged people to speak up about what they think is important, to take up oxygen that otherwise feeds the hatred and division that have had far too much influence in our country of late.