WHAT LAW DAY MEANS TO ME

Today, May 1, is Law Day. As some of you may know, I practiced law for two years after going to law school late in life and being admitted to my state bar (Utah). I read with interest Ruth Marcus today in the Washington Post on what Law Day should mean to George W. Bush. Here's what Law Day means to me:

• that everyone, citizen/non-citizen, plaintiff/defendant, "terrorist"/non-terrorist be afforded due process in our courts
• that no evidence obtained from torture or "enhanced interrogatory methods" be allowed or admitted as evidence
• that everyone have right to counsel, and this right not be restricted to a limited number of times as the DOJ is proposing for access to counsel by those in Guantanamo
• that there be equal protection under the law
• that our courts be open to all
• that there be no "secret" proceedings in our courts
• that the rule of law not be discarded in times of crisis