more thoughts on politics

I wanted to add some thoughts to my previous post (see below) concerning voting malaise. That post was written in a more stream-of-conscious fashion than normal and I did not give the topic its full thoroughness. I think everyone who can vote, should vote, and any law student who does not vote has yet to realize just how much politics will affect his/her career. No matter what area of law one decides to practice, from criminal law to real estate transactions, your practice will be effected by politics. The court is an apolitical institution, but everyone knows that judges are humans, and even if they are just following the law, following the law might be different depending on how you interpret the law. In a recent article, our new chief justices, John Roberts talks about how the "high court does not have political preferences," but he has an uphill battle to convince most Americans. The decision in Bush v. Gore did not help, splitting the justices along the lines of what we know of their party affiliations. Even if one's practice nave takes a lawyer into court, it is unlikely you will never deal with some government agency (i.e. Land use regulations set up by the Department of Ecology or the E.P.A.) The heads of those agencies are appointed by the President (federal) or the governor (state.) Those political appointments affect the atmosphere of an agency and have real life ramifications (The new head of the EPA for our region is a former Dow Chemical executive. Whose interests do you think she will favor?) If that is not proof enough that the law is tied closely to politics, let me remind you of the branch of government that makes the laws: the legislature! We now live in an era where the law has become almost entirely a creature of statute. Those statutes are written by the legislature, and the legislature is put in office by our votes. Not only should we all be taking an interest in politics at the federal level, but also at the state--at least enough interest to read a bit on the issues and vote.

Clearly, when you represent a client and in following the laws, we are bound by the laws or a valid constitutional argument that the laws should be overturned. There will always be laws that we, according to our political beliefs, find repugnant. I do not think that everyone should have the same beliefs (although it would be nice if everyone agreed with me) but I think it is incumbent upon lawyers to have a basic understanding of the current political climate and to participate at the most basic level in that political system. It is important for your clients that you understand how and why laws are made and what forces may affect their change.

I think I can put this topic behind me for a while , at least until the '08 election season, which should be in full swing come January.