| 11/16/2007 |
| YOUR OPINION |
| Courageous
protests Editor: Long ago, a despotic character in William Shakespeare’s “Henry VI” offered an oft-misconstrued prescription for tyrants: “First thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers.” Unfortunately, the great bard’s fiction has all too often become fact, as just laws and those who uphold them have been the targets of those who would place their thirst for power above the rights of the people. Events unfolding in Pakistan provide the latest example of how lawyers and judges are often the only ones who stand between democracy and dictatorship. Realizing that the rule of law could stymie his quest for power, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has suspended the Pakistani Constitution, sacked the Supreme Court and thrown the nation’s protesting lawyers in jail. While some might joke about lawyers being hauled off in handcuffs, the real victims are the people for whom the loss of liberty is no laughing matter. Musharraf apparently believes guns and tanks are the only means for maintaining order and keeping democratic Pakistan from descending into chaos. But lawyers James Madison, John Adams, John Jay (our first Chief Justice) and the other architects of American democracy would counsel that the rule of law is a much more potent weapon. Having once stood up to a mighty tyrant themselves, they would applaud the courage of Pakistan’s lawyers. So should we. DAVID I. FALLK PRESIDENT, THE COMMITTEE FOR JUSTICE FOR ALL KINGSTON |