Hello Friend,

At Lawyers Defending American Democracy, we are singularly focused on protecting our democratic institutions and the rule of law. We bring to this work a belief that the legal profession – including bar associations and law schools – can and must speak out against efforts to undermine our Constitution. 

The founding fathers created the Constitution as a living document meant to guide Americans into the future. The preamble calls for us to form a more perfect union and to insure domestic tranquility.

That forward vision is important since their words were written when slavery was an accepted American institution and women did not have the right to vote, own property, or sign a contract. Nonetheless their genius was in their vision of a document that carried the promise of greater opportunity in the future. 

It is interesting to imagine what our founding fathers would think about our country today.

Might their pride in the gains made be mixed with fear at what has transpired over the past years? One suspects they would also be sharing in the grief felt by a nation brought to its knees from yet two more horrific mass killings, less than two weeks apart.  

Bullets were not even invented when the Constitution was penned. Certainly, the founders could not have foreseen nor justified a world where providing “for the common defence” meant that machine guns would be used to slay children and teachers in schools and families in grocery stores. No other nation in the world suffers such carnage from gun deaths. 

The constitution has been the foundation for an evolving constellation of rights and protections that we must never take for granted. Achieving a more perfect union is the task we inherited and the legacy we pass on to our children.

This work is nonpartisan and requires the commitment of our profession to join us in ensuring that democracy and the rule of law are ideals that continue long into perpetuity. We all have much work ahead, and we will be following up soon with more news and information.  

Please reach out to us and let us know what you think by emailing [email protected]; your financial support, too, is always appreciated and you may donate here. To view this month's Heros & Threats, visit www.LDAD.com/udpates.

Lauren Rikleen
Interim Executive Director

Lawyers Defending American Democracy
303 Congress Street
Boston, MA 02210
United States
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