理查德·加略特作为弗吉尼亚州律师协会新任主席的演讲
The following remarks were made by Richard Garriott upon his election as President of the Virginia Bar Association on January 26, 2019:
“我们要做的第一件事，就是杀掉所有的律师.” This infamous line by Dick the Butcher in Henry VI Part Two has been used for half-a-millennia to poke fun at our profession. However, Shakespeare was not commenting on the evils of lawyers but lauding us as the protectors of the Rule of Law and fundamental freedoms.
While Dick the Butcher is a fictional character, Jack Cades, to whom he was speaking, was real. 1450年，卡德斯领导了一场反对亨利六世的叛乱. 在他的叛乱中, 就像泰勒一样, 在农民起义中, 发生在80年前, 针对法律行业, 更重要的是法院, 毁灭的. Both rebellions targeted the institutions surrounding the Rule of Law because that was how they could seize power.
Shakespeare knew that populist uprisings can only succeed if they destroy the Rule of Law and the very institutions that preserve English liberties. This quote, from Dick the Butcher reminds us that lawyers have a special obligation to be watchful for threats to liberties and freedoms.
农民起义和杰克·卡德斯起义最终都失败了. However, history tells us over and over again of the serious ramifications that can occur when populism overtakes a society. 18世纪80年代，法国平民主义者推翻了卡佩蒂昂王朝, one of the first things the Committee for Public Safety did was to destroy the Royal Courts and the Royal legal system. By tearing down these institutions they were able to take full control and institute the bloodbath of the Reign of Terror.
In the 20th century both Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler were swept into power by an electorate caught up by the rise of populism and the desire for new leadership. Once in power, 这两位独裁者很快就忽视了这一点, and destroyed, 意大利和德国的民主制度. What followed was the rise of fascism across Europe and ultimately the calamity of World War II.
民粹主义历来是威权主义的先兆. Just like in 1930s Europe, today authoritarian leaders rise to power on waves of populism. This is happening in Venezuela, Peru, Turkey, Hungary, Poland and Brazil. 在美国, our institutions have traditionally limited the impact of populist leaders who might become authoritarians. In the past we’ve come very close to seeing our institutions swept aside. 然而，民主的护栏在传统上一直存在.
今天，我们生活在一个非常可怕的时代. 部落主义在我国已经变得猖獗. It seems almost normal to have leaders on both the right and the left question the Constitution, the Courts, and the departments of the executive branch charged with upholding justice. Once the tearing down of the guardrails that protect our liberties becomes normalized, 我们将走上一条完全自我毁灭的道路. That is why it is our obligation as Virginia lawyers to stand up and constantly call for the protection of the rule of law and the institutions that protect and nourish it.
贯穿我们国家的历史, Virginia lawyers have always led the way in ensuring our democratic institutions have been strong and have protected liberties that our ancestors fought so hard to give us. Rather than call for an end to English common law and the legal systems that protect the rule of law, it was Virginia lawyers Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson who used the rule of law and democratic institutions to prove to the world that we were ready, willing, 并且能够独自对抗地球上最强大的力量.
在我们刚刚起步的共和国期间, 弗吉尼亚州的律师约翰·马歇尔开创了我们司法系统的先例, in fact, independent, 在我们的民主制度中，司法是, and is, 平等的政府部门.
她是诺福克的第一位女律师, 波林·亚当斯, who helped lead the fight for women’s suffrage and let’s not forget the tremendous work of Oliver Hill and Spotswood Robinson who utilized the courts to secure civil rights for all of Virginians regardless of race and end the disgraceful era of Jim Crow.
All of these Virginia lawyers used the rule law to help our democracy grow and flourish. 他们每个人都输掉了许多战役, 但在这样做时，他们并没有质疑我们的司法制度. Their actions ensured that the guardrails that protect our rights remain strong during times of tremendous change.
今天，我们的民主正面临来自各方的严重威胁. 政客们呼吁用暴力对付他们的对手, 他们用恐惧来为无视正当程序辩护, 街头发生了政治暴力, and the average citizen questions the integrity of our democratic institutions. 如果我们要维护这些来之不易的自由, 维吉尼亚州的律师, and this Association must stand and call for sanity in our public discourse. 维吉尼亚州的律师 have a special obligation through our actions and words to show that you do not have to hate someone who disagrees with you, that you can agree to disagree and still be civil and respectful to one another and their differing viewpoints.
For 131 years, the Virginia Bar Association has been the independent voice of the Virginia lawyer. 当VBA发言时，人们会倾听并采取行动. 当律师协会保持沉默时，这种沉默是雷鸣般的. VBA的使命从未像现在这样重要. All of us, regardless of our political philosophies should now take on the mantle that our predecessors so willingly took up, and individually and as an Association we must advocate the importance of our democratic institutions. I ask each of you to take the Principles of Professionalism that were issued ten years ago and read it, use it, 并鼓励其他人也这样做. 只有我们带头，别人才会跟随. Thank you.