Kevin Kamenetz
Law Day Keynote Address
April 29, 2011
It is a pleasure to join all of you to celebrate Law Day here in Towson.
I want to thank the honorable Alexander Wright and the entire Baltimore County Bar Association for sponsoring this annual tradition. I am also grateful to have the opportunity to honor Michele M. Nethercott, the winner of this year’s Law Day Award, and Master C. Theresa Beck, this year’s Judith P. Ritchey Achievement Award winner. Congratulations to both of you on these prestigious recognitions.
History
On March 5, 1770, British soldiers fired into a mob in the city of Boston, killing five men. This act of violence inflamed people in Boston and throughout the thirteen American colonies. Already incensed by what they saw as excessive British presence and use of force, this incident was viewed as an outrage of the highest order. Images of British redcoats mowing down a crowd of defenseless bystanders were published throughout the colonies. Leading Bostonian Samuel Adams named the event the Boston Massacre. A building which was believed, (incorrectly, as it would turn out), to have housed a soldier who shot into the crowd was dubbed “Butcher’s Hall.” If you were to describe these soldiers as the most unpopular men in Boston, you would not even have begun to done justice to their situation.
All of the British soldiers were indicted for murder and set to be tried in one of the most hostile environments a defendant has ever faced. And it was for precisely that reason that a young American lawyer agreed to take their case. John Adams was the last man in Boston that anyone would have expected to take the side of British soldiers. He had impeccable patriot credentials. If he had not yet endorsed the need for independence, he certainly believed in an expansion of American rights that most of the members of Parliament would have considered laughable at best and treasonable at worst. He was widely recognized as one of the foremost advocates of American rights and was both a friend and ally of many of those who were most outraged by this case.
Yet despite his own political ambitions, John Adams took on the singularly most unpopular job in the city of Boston--the defense of eight members of an occupying force accused of murdering civilians armed only with snowballs.
John Adams took the case because he believed that the defendants had rights. He took the case because he believed that no one’s fate should be determined by a mob mentality. He took the case for that very best of reasons: because it was the right thing to do. And in the end, six soldiers were acquitted of all charges, while two were convicted of manslaughter.
It could be argued that the Boston Massacre did more to define this country than any other event during the Revolutionary Era. On a purely political level, it turned a large portion of colonists against the British and paved the way for popular support of independence. But on a much more important level, it defined who we were going to be as a people.
It would have been very easy for John Adams to ignore this case and simply get on with his life, run for office, and continue his successful law practice. It would have been even easier to do what his cousin, Sam Adams did and exploit this issue for his personal and political benefit. Instead, he stood up and did the right thing by protecting the rights of some of the most loathed men in America. In his diary, Adams would refer to this decision as “one of the best pieces of service I ever rendered my country.”
Thanks in no small part to John Adams himself, these principles are enshrined in our nation’s founding documents. The right to a fair and speedy trial as well as the concept that we are all innocent until proven guilty are fundamental cornerstones of the American legal system.
Ideas Lead Us Today
The fact that these ideas are such a basic and important part of American law has helped shape our nation into the extraordinary place it is today. Even now, lawyers continue John Adams’ tradition of working to ensure that everyone has the right to a fair hearing.
We are fortunate to have one such lawyer with us today. Michele Nethercott is not only a former Assistant Public Defender in Baltimore County, she has directed the Office of the Public Defender’s Innocence Project, working to identify and free those wrongly convicted using DNA and other evidence. Her work there and with students at the University of Maryland and the University of Baltimore’s Schools of Law has lead her to researching wrongful conviction cases and innocence claims that many communities would prefer to ignore. She is doing some of the most important legal work in this country right now. She is doing exactly what John Adams did so many years ago: the right thing.
We are also recognizing Master C. Theresa Beck who will receive the Ritchey Achievement Award. For many years, she too has upheld the standards of the legal profession in our County by her tireless support of the Baltimore County Bar Association.
Another attorney who once practiced in Baltimore County, Thurgood Marshall, once wrote, “History teaches that grave threats to liberty often come in times of urgency, when constitutional rights seem too extravagant to endure.”
Sadly, today we see evidence of Marshall’s warning. Although the rule of law is accepted as an essential part of the American legal system, there are individuals being held in Guantanamo Bay without trial. These men would be considered by many to be just as bad, if not worse, than those British soldiers who opened fire on that crowd in Boston so many years ago. It is tempting to just lock them up and throw away the key. However, this is not the lesson that has been taught to us by our founding fathers. Our system and our beliefs are stronger than this and I believe that any challenge to our nation can be overcome without sacrificing our freedoms or ignoring our responsibilities under the law.
In 1770, John Adams stood up to his countrymen, his friends, and even his family, because he believed in the rule of law. He did not give into fear, pressure, or politics. He stood up for the right that every man, no matter what his crime, has rights.
As we face the challenges of the 21st century, we must never forget that this country was founded on those principles, on that kind of morality, however inconvenient. The commitment to the rights of others is as important to the future of this country today as it was in 1770.
Thank you and have a great day.
