Lawyers

Jun 14
20:35

2008

Myron Gushlak

Myron Gushlak

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What do you have when a lawyer is buried up to his neck in sand?

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You’ve probably heard that one. Or one like it.  I don’t think there is any one occupation that spawns more jokes than lawyers,Lawyers Articles but what’s happening in Pakistan is ruining the bad name of lawyers everywhere. Pakistani Prime Minister Pervez Musharraf demanded the resignation of Supreme Court chief justice  Iftikhar Muhammed Chaudhry last March, and when Chaudhry refused, Musharraf declared martial law putting thousands of lawyers into prison or placing them under house arrest. Aitzaz Ahsan has led a movement of protesting lawyers throughout Pakistan speaking out for the primacy of constitutional law.

            The response has been extraordinary. Ahsan and Chaudhry recently drove from Islamabad to Lahore, a twenty-six hour, 150 mile trip. Tens of thousands of people lined the streets in support and the entire thing was broadcast on television. I cannot think of a more unlikely event occurring in the free world.  Would attorneys in America leave golf courses in droves in support of a dethroned Supreme Court justice in this country? I can’t picture it, but I would probably watch it on tv. It is always shocking to me when people stand up for what is right. Maybe it happens all the time and I’m just unaware of it. I applaud the Pakistanis. Their country is a mere fifty-one years old, and they are fighting for its basic principles with a tenacity that is as fierce as it is surprising. Future generations of Pakistani children might not get it when they hear the answer to my original question. “Not enough sand?  What does that mean, ‘not enough sand’?” 

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