From the President

MARTESHA L. JOHNSON, Publisher WILLIAM T. RAMSEY, Editor-in-Chief CAROLINE SAPP, Managing Editor LAUREN POOLE, Managing Editor ADRIENNE BENNETT CLUFF, Layout/Design/ Production

EDITORIAL COMMITTEE

RAMONA DESALVO TIM ISHII KELLY FREY SUMMER MELTON ROB MARTIN BART PICKETT KATLIN RYAN KRISTIN THOMAS JONATHAN WARDLE

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June/July 2022 | Martesha L. Johnson

This year’s Law Day theme, “Toward a More Perfect Union: The Constitution in Times of Change,” has provided me an opportunity to reflect on why I became a lawyer. During my junior year at Tennessee State University, I decided to make a courageous leap and apply for law school. The idea of going to law school was foreign to me. I didn’t grow up with a lawyer in my family or direct influence by a lawyer in my community, but I have always had the fire to fight for what’s right. My desire to walk the halls in places where my ancestors weren’t allowed has been a guiding force in my journey along with my passion to sound the alarm against injustice and be a change maker in my community. My legal career was inspired by the lawyers of the civil rights movement using their passion and skill to argue for desegregation and an end to Jim Crow. I am now blessed to be professionally fulfilled by my work defending the Constitutional rights of those experiencing poverty in the criminal legal system.

As I have mentioned in my previous columns, lawyers have a great responsibility. In choosing this profession, we have committed ourselves to be on the frontlines of moving this nation “toward a more perfect union.” What exactly does a more perfect union look like? I believe it begins with an acknowledgement that things have not ever been, are not now, and will likely never be perfect. Sure, we have made strides as a nation but, as evidenced by use of the word “more,” even the drafters of the Constitution realized that the work for progress must be continual. For some, it is easy to feel hopelessness and despair about the times we live in. We watched the January 6th attack on our Nation. We live in a time of confusion, misinformation, unrest and division. Civility has been lost among some of our leaders and has even been eroded in our profession. As lawyers we are crucially situated to step up in changing times. As I have reflected on what a more perfect union means to me, it boils down to having a nation that is fair, representative, and constantly evolving to be more just for all. We must be advocates for a nation that exists without favoritism or discrimination. One that doesn’t functionally leave any person or group left behind. As a profession, we must value and promote diversity, inclusion, and representation in all branches of government. We can not remain idle or silent in our pursuit of a just world for all. In fact, our oath requires our action.

In speaking to an audience in Seattle, Washington about the American Dream, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is reported to have said, “There is a strange illusion that time will solve problems. Time waits for no man. The time is always ripe to do right.”

Colleagues, in the fight for justice, we are the catalysts for change. The time is now for us to emerge as examples of leadership during these changing times.

In Solidarity,