Judges in black robes stood shoulder-to-shoulder on the Durham County courthouse steps Thursday afternoon and administered the attorney’s oath to dozens of legal professionals before them who raised their right hands and reaffirmed their pledge to defend the Constitution.
The gathering was part of nationwide observances of Law Day. Established by President Eisenhower in 1958, Law Day transformed this year into a more urgent, and public, “Day of Action” amid attacks on judicial independence.
“In a time when judges, law firms and lawyers are being specifically targeted and fear economic and political retribution, it is particularly important that we add our communal voices to the defense of the rule of law,” Durham County Bar Association president Josh McIntyre read from a statement that the association published last week. “Stand up. Speak out. Defend the courts. Uphold the rule of law. Silence is not an option.”
Credit: Photo by Lena Geller
The event drew a cross-section of Durham’s legal community: public defenders, prosecutors, court staff, civil trial litigators. Every judge on the Durham bench was present except Superior Court Judge Mike O’Foghludha, who was on circuit out of town. Milan Pham, an adoption and family lawyer who helped organize the event, told the INDY that this marks the first time Durham legal professionals have observed Law Day with such a reaffirmation.
“At this moment, attorneys, law firms, and nonprofits that do legal work are being called to the front to stand in the breach between people and an administration that’s trying to trample civil and human rights and the Constitution,” says Pham.
The gathering mirrored similar ceremonies across the country where local bar associations decided to host oath renewals as reminders of constitutional duties (In March, the American Bar Association issued a statement “[rejecting] efforts to undermine the courts and the profession” that was signed by dozens of local associations). The judges who participated had to obtain approval from judicial standards authorities and were restricted to only administering the oath, no additional commentary allowed, according to Pham.
Law Day came as the Trump administration and judiciary are locked in ongoing battles over the scope of executive authority, with the administration arresting and calling for the impeachment of those who block mass deportation efforts. Last week, Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan was taken into custody after refusing to let ICE arrest an undocumented immigrant in her courtroom without a judicial warrant. Hours before the Durham gathering, a federal judge in Texas blocked the administration from using the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelans with no due process and the White House swiftly condemned the ruling.
The crowd in front of the Durham County Courthouse included community members as well as legal workers. A non-attorney attendee named Susan told the INDY she recently reread the Declaration of Independence to locate sections addressing due process and glued relevant excerpts onto a sign that she was holding.
“You’ll notice it talks about how we are removing ourselves from England because the king was scooping up people who live here and removing them to other parts of the country and world, and not giving them due process,” Susan says. “Sound familiar to what’s happening right now?”
Susan planned to head to a May Day protest a few blocks away after the Law Day event.
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Reach Staff Writer Lena Geller at lgeller@indyweek.com. Comment on this story at backtalk@indyweek.com