I was 20 years old when I first became a card carrying member of the ACLU. It was the days of Richard Nixon, the Vietnam War and a lot of social unrest, similar to today. Civil rights and liberties have always been the bedrock of our democracy and I felt strongly that they should never be encumbered or suppressed. At that point in my life I had not decided to go to law school but I guess it pointed me in that direction.
The ACLU has long fought to protect our rights to free speech and assembly. The ACLU gets a bad rap because some people consider them anti-Christian. But they actually are just trying to keep religion out of government and keep the government out of your religious practices.
Pretty much all other lawyers get a bad rap as well but that’s okay too. It is what we do. In every case, the lawyer is both the good guy and the bad guy. It is all about perspective. George Floyd’s family has an attorney. Derek Chauvin has an attorney. Ahmaud Arbery’s family has a lawyer. Gregory and Travis McMichael have attorneys. Organizations on the left and the right and in the middle all have attorneys. We are not in this business to gain popularity. But being both loved and hated at the same time puts a lot of stress and anxiety on an attorney trying to do his job.
These past few months doctors and nurses and the other health care providers have been under enormous stress, both emotionally and physically. They have put their lives at risk. Luckily very few people have a low opinion of them. They are pretty much universally loved. But even with that we have seen suicides and breakdowns in their profession as well.
Lawyers do not get nor necessarily expect that kind of love. Unlike doctors and nurses, lawyers are not capable of treating those sick with Coronavirus. Sure, we can protect our clients in some ways. Some attorneys have worked diligently to get their inmates released or moved from corrections facilities where Coronavirus is rampant. Others have exposed neglect in nursing homes where many seniors are dying. And attorneys have been on both sides of the argument as to whether the government imposed safety restrictions are reasonable or an unnecessary infringement on our civil liberties. We do our job and we accept our lot.
Today is the fourth anniversary of Luke’s death. I wrote this post today wondering what he would be thinking if he were alive today. As an attorney, how would he look at the ongoing disrespect for human rights and dignity? As a former sergeant in the Kentucky National Guard how would he feel about his fellow officers being sent out into our communities to control crowds? Or even worse how would he feel about the threat of military force against our citizens? It would not sit well with him, I know. We all get depressed but for those truly suffering from depression, survival under these circumstances is near impossible.
Share the love, especially with those you know who are risk. There is no room for hate, divisiveness or the use of power to express one’s false sense of superiority.
The Trials of Luke 