the last defense

Since I was a sophomore in high school, taking Procedural Criminal Law, I have dreamed of becoming an attorney. One Saturday morning during first semester, I was laying in bed, and grabbed a book for some light reading: Constitutional Interpretation: Rights of the Individual, by Craig Ducat. A pre-lawyer was born.

Between then and now I've toyed with several ideas about where I'd find my niche. I thought about being a prosecutor, the Solicitor General for the US, a corporate lawyer, an author, a missionary (not having anything to do with law, but I did go through a weird kick for a few weeks one May), a trafficking victim advocate, a politician and finally, nothing. A few weeks ago, I hit a point in my studies when I realized that nothing appealed to me as a career. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my future.

A few days ago, I found my path again. I was having a conversation with a friend whose father is a lawyer. He told me that considered lawyers to be the people's last defense against the government. I had a eureka moment. I heard in my head the Will Smith song "Men in Black," the line where Will says that the MIBs are the first, last and only line of defense against the worst scum of the universe. I thought, yep, that sounds about right.

Our people need protection from the government. Further, the Constitution needs protection from the government as well. Places like the ACLU and the Institute for Justice work to continue that protection. Since I was raised a Republican, I was brought up disdaining the ACLU. I don't agree with all the cases they represent, but an organization that purports to preserve the civil liberties of Americans can't be all bad.

And maybe one day, our country will wake up and realize what has been given up, and realize that the only remedy is to act to bring us back to the way our country was when founded.

Politics ought to be the part-time profession of every citizen who would protect the rights and privileges of free people and who would preserve what is good and fruitful in our national heritage. – Dwight D. Eisenhower