It was very powerful. An excerpt:
We lawyers can not change the world
that is the province of politicians
we have a higher calling --
we change the lives of people.
Judaism has a saying:
If you save one life,
it’s as if you’ve saved the world.
today on the cusp of your career
I issue a challenge to each one of you:
WHO among you will rescue the children
being held in steel cages at our southern border --
children our government has classified as collateral damage.
WHO among you will seek DNA from death row inmates.
WHO among you will prosecute or defend
war criminals at The Hague.
WHO among you will to take on
the existential threat to our environment --
to treat the climate crisis as the biggest threat in human history.
WHO will continue the campaign
to ensure every American,
regardless of ability to pay,
has the basic human right to healthcare.
it is not a coincidence that this mission
began with a president who taught constitutional law.
WHO will attend 8am bail hearings for indigent prisoners
WHO will fight for each one of the 68 million refugees,
men, women and children
desperately fleeing
the monsters who make war on them,
whether they be:
the drug gangs of Central America,
Assad bombing and gassing the cities of Syria,
or the brutal warlords on the plains of Africa.
WHO among you will demand they be treated humanely,
and not turn a blind eye to their torture.
WHO will stand up against the bigotry directed at
African Americans, Native Americans, other people of color,
the jews, Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, immigrants
and every other despised minority under attack today.
WHO among you will seek the closure
of our concentration camp at Guantanamo
and have the audacity to demand fair trials for terrorists.
WHO would step forward to defend
Julian Assange, or Bill Cosby
or the Stoneman Douglas high school assassin
Or would you rather join your peers at Harvard
who are protesting a law professor
daring to represent Harvey Weinstein.
I urge you not to fear the displeasure of the crowd
or the distaste of the trolls.
Our constitution and laws are toothless if they only protect those
who enjoy popular approval.
The SDFLA Blog is dedicated to providing news and notes regarding federal practice in the Southern District of Florida. The New Times calls the blog "the definitive source on South Florida's federal court system." All tips on court happenings are welcome and will remain anonymous. Please email David Markus at dmarkus@markuslaw.com
Well said Mr. Black. Well said indeed.
ReplyDeleteDo you think Roy realizes those photos of kids in cages were taken when we had a con law professor as President?
ReplyDeleteWell said indeed. However, most of these grads will do what almost all other law grads do and try to make obscene amounts of money by working for the man.
ReplyDeleteDon't think Roy would care who was president. Wrong is wrong. That is the difference between him and you. You and the maga crowd would be okay with mass executions and firing on immigrants at the border, so long as they are being done by your President....pretty much the difference is between having a soul and not.
ReplyDelete9:41 -
ReplyDeletePlease stop. President Trump changed the way asylum seekers are treated at the border. That resulted in family separation and children being placed in cages. An infant died in ICE custody just days ago. That's four children that have died in ICE custody under your MAGA president and as a direct result of his racist/xenophobic policies.
Trump couldn't stand on his record in the midterms because he has done positive so he and his minions made up a crisis and blamed everything on Latino immigrants. That is the act of a coward, not a leader.
921
DeleteTrump did create zero tolerance at the border, which did result in family separation, and the policy was quickly abandoned. But children dying of illness is not a "direct result" of any trump policy. When children die of illness it's no ones fault...it's a tragedy.
The fact is the Clinton administration entered into the Flores settlement requiring speedy release of adults travelling with kids, but not adults without kids. And we have Obama appointed Judge Gee who has interpreted the settlement expansively, and despite completely different circumstances. This means Central Americans are **highly incentivized** to bring kids on the dangerous journey north as their ticket to enter the country. In the past, the kids were left at home safe and sound, and the parent that got through just sent money home. Now the parents bring the kids with the express purpose of using them to gain (guarantee) entry. Yes they bring teenagers, toddlers, and even babies hundreds of miles, often on foot, and using human smugglers who could care less about the welfare of their clients. I cannot blame them for seeking to escape their countries, but they are putting their kids in harms way.
Whatever your politics, you have to decide if our law and policy should be that whoever arrives with a kid is immediately released into the USA. If you are like Trump, you are fighting that policy. If you disagree with trump and are in favor of catch and release for adults with kids, prepare yourself for the certainty that adults will continue to (as rational actors) bring kids on the trip, and a small percentage will continue to die.
It's up to you to decide which policy is more just and fair as a whole. But lets not reduce the debate by lying and saying trumps policy is directly killing kids
Update your judges list. Ruiz. Altman. Gorsuch, Kavanaugh....come on man.
ReplyDelete2:45pm -- thanks for the reminder.
ReplyDelete"Catch and release"?! These are not animals! These are people.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, Trump's policy is killing kids. Two more died since 6:58 gave the foxandfriendstalkingpoints.
Miller and Trump treat immigrants seeking asylum like animals. They call them invaders, rapists and worse.
The reality is that illegal immigration at the border went down substantially in the last 15 years. There was a small spike due to horrific conditions in Central America. But immigration is not the crisis Trump and Fox make it out to be. They create the false crisis because Trump can't rely on his horrific record as scammer-in-chief so they put horns on the poor immigrants and Fox, the lat-right and 6:58 are more than happy to go along with it.