U.S. District Judge Urges University of Richmond Law Graduates to Preserve America's Liberties
May 5, 2003
Federal Judge Harvey E. Schlesinger told the 157 members of the 2003 graduating class of the University of Richmond School of Law today their responsibility is "to preserve and pass on our heritage of liberty and freedom."
Quoting Learned Hand, Schlesinger told the "soon-to-be-lawyers" that "Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women; when it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can save it; no constitution, no law, no court can even do much to help it."
The country is undergoing many changes Schlesinger said, the chief of which is trying to find a "balance between public and private rights" in the wake of the "unprecedented attacks" of Sept. 11. He warned about increasing assaults on Americans' liberties that "start as a trickling stream but could soon become a torrent."
"No American need ever be ashamed of this country," Schlesinger said. "For over two centuries, we have practiced a representative government based on the divine right of the individual" and the "greatest good for the greatest number."
Americans enjoy greater personal freedom than in any other system, he said, and the graduates "will be caretakers" of that system.
Schlesinger is a 1965 graduate of the law school and a recipient of its William Green Award for Professional Excellence. He is U.S. District Judge of the U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida.
Speaking for the faculty, Rodney A. Smolla told the graduates that Chief Justice John Marshall came to him in a dream last night and imparted two words of advice: family and justice. Smolla is George E. Allen Professor of Law and will become dean on July 1.
"One of the hardest things in life," Smolla said, "is to balance the needs of one's family with the demands of professional life."
"If you lose friendship and companionship and love," Smolla said, "you lose the meaning of life. If you let your job take over, you may conquer the universe but lose your soul."
"I believe (lawyers) will always be keepers of our great tradition of justice," Smolla said, "a condition that marks the progress of the human race."
"All of the issues that decide our character and our place in the world, lawyers are part of," Smolla told the class, but "the law must evolve as you must evolve."