Lately, the “rule of law” has been in the news, prompting many of us to think more critically about the law’s role in our democracy, as well as a lawyer’s role in preserving the rule of law. On May 1, many of us at the Legal Clinic attended the DC Law Day rally at the Supreme Court organized by Lawyers for Good Government. It was a great rally, with inspirational speakers, creative signs, and hundreds of lawyers reciting their oath of office.
It is a strange time to be a lawyer (or perhaps it is just a strange time to be, unrelated to anyone’s profession). The legal profession is rarely of one mind on any topic, of course, but belief in the rule of law—meaning belief that no one is above the law, that our Constitution is the supreme law of the land, and that we must aspire to create equal and fair systems of justice for everyone—may be the closest we come to unanimity. What we will each do to live up to or fight for those beliefs remains to be seen.
Like many, my path to the law was not particularly linear. I had no interest in becoming a lawyer as a child. If you had asked me if I wanted to become an activist or advocate, then yes, but I had no exposure to lawyers as agents of social change. What drew me to the practice of law was an experience I had working with homeless youth in Arizona who were banned by businesses, assaulted by police, and dehumanized by passersby. The homeless youth needed new laws to protect them from harm and lawyers—free lawyers—to enforce those laws.
At rallies, people often chant “when we fight, we win.” But when you fight for justice, you don’t always win. Our justice system is made up of humans who can make mistakes or who carry the same biases that we are often fighting against when we fight for justice. Sometimes there is no equal justice under law. Sometimes courts decide that people who are homeless or living in poverty aren’t entitled to due process, as they did in our federal rapid re-housing class action. Sometimes our highest court decides that people on the street aren’t entitled to the same protection from cruel and unusual punishment as others, as they did in Grants Pass.
What I do know to be true, is that you cannot win if you do not fight. One thing I love about the Legal Clinic is that we are always willing to stand up for what is right and to be in the fight with our clients. We work with clients who have fewer legal protections than they should and less political power than they deserve. We try to address those injustices by supporting them with some of the best staff and volunteer lawyers in the city—lawyers who are willing to fight hard to ensure the client has a safe place to go. At the same time, our policy and advocacy team lends their expertise and fire to fight for a budget and legal framework that moves the city closer to our vision for housing justice.
As lawyers, we know that the law can be an effective tool for justice and can increase government transparency and accountability, but only if the law creates explicit protections and has strong enforcement clauses. Lawyers interested in furthering the principles of fairness and justice must advocate for laws that protect the public in the worst-case scenario. We do not take elected leaders or agency heads at their word that they will do something different than what the law says, we insist that laws must be written to protect us from the worst intentions and actions of those with power. We are a “hope for the best, prepare for the worst” profession. We are in a moment in time where we will find out how well prepared our laws and institutions are.
I strongly believe that laws can serve to equalize and can be used to demand respect for one’s basic human rights. When laws are written to protect the most vulnerable, with protection against the actions of the most powerful, they serve to protect all of us from tyranny and tyrants. Most importantly, when “power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely,” the rule of law and its enforcers play a critical role in checking and rebalancing power.
Amber W. Harding, Executive Director
