Opening Statement. Protecting Democracy-We Can Do Better

• Author: Barbara J. Dawson
• Pages: 4-4

Opening Statement

Published in Litigation, Volume 46, Number 2, Winter 2020. © 2020 by the American Bar Association. Reproduced with permission. All rights reserved. This information or any portion thereof may not

be copied or disseminated in any form or by any means or stored in an electronic database or retrieval system without the express written consent of the American Bar Association. 4

BARBARA J. DAWSON

The author is chair of the Section of Litigation and a partner with Snell & Wilmer, in Phoenix.

Earlier this year, I heard Justice Anthony

Kennedy recount that he had reread Plato

and Aristotle because it has always irri-

tated him that they gave a low grade to

democracy. The philosophers held this

view, he explained, because they thought

that democracy did not have the capac-

ity to mature. He added that “it is our

destiny to prove them wrong,” and he

encouraged us to do a little better than

we have so far. As the leadership of the

Section of Litigation, we intend to help

with that, recognizing that we are the

champions for the third branch. And we

invite all who are interested to join us.

As a centerpiece for this year, we wel-

come the ABA’s Standing Committee on

the American Judicial System into the

Section of Litigation. It fits perfectly with

our mission of advancing education about,

and defense of, the rule of law and inde-

pendence of the judiciary.

We see this mission as particularly im-

portant—right now—as our country faces

such serious issues and an upcoming elec-

tion cycle. We are fortunate to have this

committee under the incomparable lead-

ership of the Honorable Lorna Schofield,

Laurence Pulgram, and Alan Kopit.

The committee has defined its focus

as not only defense of the rule of law and

independence of the judiciary but also ad-

vancement of the relationship between

lawyers and the media to increase pub-

lic education about the third branch of

government. This committee stands on a

strong base built over the course of many

years under the past leadership of Alan

Kopit along with Shira Scheindlin, Dick

Semerdjian, and Herbert Dixon, and so

many other lawyers and judges dedicated

to this mission.

The resources already available range

from significant works of thought lead-

ership related to the rule of law to prac-

tical materials such as a guide for law-

yers entitled Rapid Response to Fake

News, Misleading Statements, and Unjust

Criticism of the Judiciary. I would encour-

age all to review and use these tools, ac-

cessible on the ABA Section of Litigation’s

website under Standing Committee on

the American Judicial System, at www.

americanbar.org/groups/committees/

american_judicial_system/.

The projects of this committee align

so well with the mission of the Section

of Litigation because we appreciate that

respect for the independence of the judi-

ciary is core to the success of our system,

and well worth protecting. We rightfully

expect our judges to act with indepen-

dence, and whenthey do and they face

fire, we can speak when our judges can-

not.We encourage all to use our voices

in the defense of the judiciary, as it is the

defense of our democracy.

We hope to meet Justice Kennedy’s

challenge to do better—and we can use

the assistance of lawyers and judges in

communities, large and small, across the

country. When it comes to the defense and

advancement of our American judicial sys-

tem, the rule of law, and democracy itself,

we take on this project with pride—and

we ask you to please join us. q

We encourage all

to use our voices in

the defense of the

judiciary, as it is

the defense of our

democracy.

PROTECTING

DEMOCRACY—

WE CAN DO BETTER