Guest Author: Making Justice Accessible in a New and Compelling Venue
| Publication year | 2013 |
| Pages | 5 |
| Citation | Vol. 42 No. 9 Pg. 5 |
By Greg Hobbs.
In and Around the Bar CBA President's Message to Members
Attention Readers: I have decided to deviate from the traditional monthly President's Message. Having had the good fortune of working with many excellent attorneys and judges throughout my career, I have invited a few of these colleagues to step into this space to discuss topics of import and meaning to them and to share some of their views about the legal profession. This month's guest author is Colorado Supreme Court Justice Greg Hobbs, who is known as the dean of water law in Colorado and as someone who takes great pride in engaging us to improve access to justice in our legal system —W. Terry Ruckriegle
About the Author
Justice Greg Hobbs, a member of the Colorado Supreme Court since May 1, 1996, has been a frequent contributor to The Colorado Lawyer. He is a member of Colorado's Access to Justice Commission and chairs the Judicial Advisory Council and the Water Court Committee of the Colorado Supreme Court. He authored the poems appearing in this article, and they are reproduced with his permission.
Never has the Colorado bar and bench enjoyed such a pubhc place as the Ralph L. Carr Colorado Judicial Center in which to practice the single most compelling reason for a legal profession—access to justice. On dedication day. May 2, 2013, as she walked the columbine atrium floor among 100 eighth-grade students from throughout the state, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor encouraged the students to recall a moment of joy when they are most down-hearted.
Sotomayor Feedback 360
Justice Sotomayor likes best to speak with children, her father gone, she holds on to her mother, her grandmother, she carries everywhere the next good book to read.
"You’re not smart enough." "You’re not worthy enough." "You’re not pretty enough, " they’ll tell you. "You’re sick." "Your outfit’s plain." "You won’t make it."
"You will!"
"You can!" she says to them.
"When you’re down, recall a moment of joy!" "Don’t listen to anyone who tells you you can’t!" "Go to college, follow your passion, listen to your parents—education is the greatest gift."
Justice and the kids throw the doors open to the Learning Center.
Within the Learning Center
Tucked along the northeast side of the Judicial Center’s atrium is the Learning Center. The Learning Center features interactive displays revealing how the rule of law—like the air we breathe—embraces each of us; though invisible, we can’t live without it. Making visible to the public what lawyers and judges do is the focus, not only of the Learning Center, but of every passage, piece of artwork, and working space within the building.
The Learning Center is designed to bring visitors in, and then send them back into the community, encouraged and inspired. There’s a mirror in the triangular apex of the Learning Center intended to reflect the exact likeness of each person in the fullness of our diverse identities.
Next to the mirror is a huggable bronze statue of Ralph Carr, the Colorado Governor who lost his political career by standing up for the constitutional rights of Japanese Americans during World War II. Some of the racist hate mail he received is displayed alongside his likeness.
I can never forget the tears of...
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