MUSTER CALL FOR PATRIOT-LAWYERS

We all have heard the jokes, the criticisms, and the derisive comments about members of our profession, lawyers. Some are warranted. Most are not.

Who are we? We are people. We are family members. We are crime victims. We are motorcyclists. We are veterans. We are fighters for freedom. We are patriots. Most importantly, we are the line which the government must cross to take away your individual rights. It is the line we are sworn to hold. It is a line that, overall, we hold well. If we do our jobs too well, of course, then we are not always popular. That doesn't mean, however, that we're not right to hold the line.

We, criminal defense lawyers, frequently are criticized for "protecting the guilty." In point of fact our job and, in my case, my passion, is to use our education, training and skills to ensure that the government, in every case, obeys it's own Constitution and laws. We understand that it is the law-breaker whose struggle protects the rights of all persons in this Country. Many of us have spent decades fighting in courtrooms across America to protect the bill of rights against aggressive, ongoing and seemingly never-ending assaults by federal, state and local government.

Today, the fight is getting tougher. We all know why. We are being called-out to do battle. We must take the battle to outside of the courtroom door...and, there will be no billable hours. We have a sworn duty, and we are patriots.

Depending upon which list you look at, some 25 of the 55 or so signers of the Declaration of Independence were lawyers. Nearly a majority of the Framers of our Constitution were lawyers. Most of those men lost nearly everything, some even their lives, for their participation in the creation of this great nation. Today, our Constitutional form of government is under assault by elitists who would put the common "good" before the individual rights of Americans. Limitations upon free thought, free speech and free assembly are being implemented. There are ongoing assaults on the right to bear arms. The Patriot Act and inumerable government programs seek to invade every aspect of our lives, essentially stripping the individual of his or her Constitutional protections of life, liberty and property.

When the colonies were oppressed, lawyers stepped up to help block the oppression. Today, the people of the United States are again in jeopardy. The purpose of this blog will be to attract the many "Patriot Lawyers," who I know are out there. Come, share with us your skills and thoughts on how we may help this country.

Let us make this blog a muster for all patriotic lawyers. Not only must we stand between the people and the government to protect the people, as we do each day, but we now also must work for peaceful solutions which will prevent the government from destroying our form of government.

Many people clamber for an insurrection. Please, let us apply our Constitutional rights in their given order. First, let us speak, assemble, and publish. Given this wonderful Constitution of ours, if enough of us demand that its protections remain in place, I believe we will reach that end.