This Thanksgiving, I’m grateful for the American judiciary and, particularly, for district court judges.
In these turbulent political times, they’ve been confronted with hard questions arising out of swirling controversies. Their rulings would have national implications.
Decisions were needed on short notice. Partisans gathered on the sidelines, some assured of being bitterly disappointed however the decision came down.
Yet, it seems that they have come through in the finest tradition of the law. My view of the question didn’t always prevail. But I never doubted that their decision was reached after thoughtful analysis of the law and the arguments, independent of the views of the party responsible for their elevation to the bench.
I’m grateful, too, for the lawyers who’ve explained Constitutional principles and the supremacy of the law to nonlawyers. Even as a lawyer, I’ve found myself pulling out my pocket version of the Constitution and looking at exactly how those bedrock provisions were written.
My fellow lawyers have largely made me proud.
