The history of progress in society is a story of struggle for better law. We do not achieve improvement merely by recording a vote of the people. Their action must be reduced from political principle to a legal rule or an institution. It has been one of the tasks of lawyers to translate the aspirations of our people into law, and into living institutions. In this their function has been vital to progress, and the call for their service is a continuing one.
Publication Date
December 20, 1938
Citation
1 Nat. Law. Guild Q._ 88 (1938) (address before the National Lawyers Guild, Washington, D.C., Feb. 20, 1938).
Collections
The history of progress in society is a story of struggle for better law. We do not achieve improvement merely by recording a vote of the people. Their action must be reduced from political principle to a legal rule or an institution. It has been one of the tasks of lawyers to translate the aspirations of our people into law, and into living institutions. In this their function has been vital to progress, and the call for their service is a continuing one.
