The power – and the blessing – of the rule of law

By Gerald M. Edenfield

April 29, 2008 10:23 am

— On Thursday, May 1, we will celebrate Law Day 2008 – the 50th such observance in our nation – as an opportunity to affirm the legal traditions that have made the United States and our justice system the envy of the world.
The theme for Law Day, “The Rule of Law: Foundation for Communities of Opportunity and Equity,” pays tribute to a system based on fair, publicized, easily understood and stable laws enforced with equity by knowledgeable lawyers and judges. This system of government encourages trust in institutions and the future.
The American legal system is unique in the concept that access to the courts, judicial independence and professional integrity are essential to the fair administration of justice. The bedrock of the system is a competent, independent judiciary guided always by the rule of law.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who issued the proclamation establishing Law Day in 1958, once said, “The clearest way to show what the rule of law means to us in everyday life is to recall what has happened when there is no rule of law.”
For example, last November, the President of Pakistan suspended that nation’s Constitution and effectively shut down the judicial branch of government. More than 3,000 lawyers and other Pakistanis who took to the streets to stand up for justice were rounded up by force and thrown in jail.
The contrast between that situation in Pakistan and the system we have here in the United States could not have been starker. Remember the controversy following our presidential election in 2000, the outcome of which was finally resolved by the highest court in the land … in a 5 to 4 decision.
To be sure, not everyone was happy about the Supreme Court’s ruling. But because we operate under the rule of law, the new president was inaugurated without one canister of tear gas being released or one baton being swung by police in the streets of Washington, D.C.
Sen. Joseph Lieberman, the vice presidential candidate on the losing end of that very decision, said at the time, “… here in America we work out our differences not with civil wars, but with spirited elections. We resolve our disputes not through acts of violence, but through the rule of law. And we preserve and protect our system of justice best when we accept its judgments that we disagree with most.”
Ultimately, power in our system of government rests not in one individual, one party or one regime – but in a Constitution that has stood the test of time for more than two centuries. That is the power – and the blessing – of the rule of law.
Chief Justice Leah Sears of the Supreme Court of Georgia was absolutely correct when she wrote recently, “The rule of law is not the sole province of lawyers and judges. It affects people from all walks of life and in all fields of endeavor.” Indeed, Law Day 2008 reminds us that whether teachers or truck drivers, drill sergeants or dentists, journalists or journeymen, we all have an obligation to maintain the rule of law here at home and around the world.
The rule of law operates every day in Georgia to protect the peace, prosperity and personal security of each citizen. We strive to conduct commerce in a safe and stable social environment. People freely exercise their fundamental rights of speech, worship and democratic self-government in a civil society. Crimes are addressed and punished in a system that seeks the truth and that is truly designed to protect the innocent. Although we often take it for granted, the foundation of Georgia’s community of opportunity and equity is the rule of law.
Hopefully this, the 50th anniversary celebration of Law Day, will be the springboard for each of us to advance understanding of the value of a system of laws, not individuals. To fulfill the constitutional promise of “justice for all,” we owe the future no less.

Gerald M. Edenfield of Statesboro is president of the State Bar of Georgia.