...And Justice For All

January 2000 - ...And Justice For All

by Richard H. Middleton, Jr. & Leah S. Guerry

After a December full of hearty celebration and consumerism, the arrival of Martin Luther King Jr. Day offers Americans a welcome respite and opportunity to truly reflect on the ideals and beliefs upon which our country was founded.

Doctor King's legacy was the vision of a socially and economically just nation, where all citizens would have the right to life, liberty and the privilege to pursue happiness, free of the burden of racism and discrimination.

Together with people from all levels of society - workers, teachers, students, doctors and corporate leaders, Dr. King helped create the foundation of a free, equal nation full of hope for the future.

In celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. Day, however, what is often - and sadly - overlooked is the vital role lawyers have played in shaping, enforcing and furthering Dr. King's universal message.

We must never forget the strength and courage of the mostly African-American lawyers who brought the suits that broke the back of Jim Crow in the 1950's. Attorneys such as Thurgood Marshall, whose galvanizing work on Brown v. Board of Education and other groundbreaking cases not to mention his record as a U.S. Supreme Court Justice, have served as inspiration to lawyers and civil rights leaders everywhere. Constance Baker Motley, the lawyer who worked alongside Marshall at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund on the landmark Brown case, helped integrate the University of Texas and University of Florida law schools as well as other universities, handled the Freedom Rider cases, and often represented Dr. King and other leaders of nonviolent protest.

One man who has made Dr. King's dreams his life mission is lawyer Morris Dees, who was the son of a tenant cotton farmer in segregated Alabama. In 1971, Dees co-founded the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Alabama, a nonprofit group specializing in civil rights cases.

In 1981, after members of the Klu Klux Klan lynched an African-American man in Alabama, Dees and the center sued the Klan for inciting violence and won a $7 million judgment. In 1990, Dees won a $12.5 million verdict for the family of an Ethiopian man murdered by skinheads in Oregon. And 1998 saw him victorious against the Christian Knights of the Klu Klux Klan for the burning of a church in South Carolina.

Too many times has Morris Dees had his life threatened. Too many times have his offices been burned. But there he is today, at age 62, still fighting the moral battle for justice, for all.

America has made enormous improvements on civil rights, but our work is far from over. Though it's harder to place your finger on it, discrimination still exists in society and our workplaces. The battle for equality is a continuous one, and requires ever-vigilant attention.

Because of the committed work of people like Morris Dees and the many other lawyers who strive on a daily basis to uphold the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., young Americans -- whether their families have lived here for hundreds of years or arrived on these shores just days ago -- can all dream of being whatever they want to be, free from the hatred that can cripple their hopes and the bigoted beliefs and practices that can throw barriers in their paths.

And all of us can enjoy the rewards that come from embracing Dr. King's vision.

Richard H. Middleton, Jr., president of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, is a partner in the Savannah, GA, law firm of Middleton, Mathis, Adams & Tate, P.C.

Leah S. Guerry is the executive director of the Louisiana Trial Lawyers Association.

Reprinted with permission of Louisiana Trial Lawyers Association, P. O. Box 4289, Baton Rouge; (225) 383-5554 or (800) 354-6267.