First, kill all the lawyers.
If you have ever heard this quote, you might have
thought Shakespeare was implying that lawyers were rascals that should be eradicated.
The context reveals the opposite meaning – that lawyers are essential in
protecting the government, and therefore the people, from evil.
The full quote is “The first thing we do is, let’s
kill all the lawyers”. It’s found in Act IV Scene II of Shakespeare’s Henry
VI, Part II. The key to understanding the meaning of the quote is who said
it and why.
The speaker is “Dick the Butcher”, an evil murderous
villain. Dick is the henchman or right-hand-man of Jack Cade who is leading a
rebellion to overthrow the King and put himself on the throne. Jack and Dick
are anti-intellectuals who gleefully burn books and documents to keep the people
ignorant and easily manipulated. They realize that for their coup to succeed
they must first remove the men who read, understand, and uphold the law.
Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, referring to
this quote, wrote in a 1985 dissent to a 6-3 decision preventing veterans from
hiring lawyers to challenge government denials of disability benefits: “Shakespeare
insightfully realized that disposing of lawyers is a step in the direction of a
totalitarian form of government”. He added that “the function of the
independent lawyer [is] guardian of our freedom.”
To bring this topic up to date.
Like Jack Slade, Donald Trump wants to be king. He
understands that the courts and lawyers are thwarting his coup, preventing his
complete control of the federal government, so must be dealt with.
On Tuesday March 4 the Trump administration suspended
security clearances of lawyers from the large Washington law firm Covington
& Burling. This firm had worked with Jack Smith in prosecuting Donald Trump
and are currently serving as Smith’s defense counsel in expected government
investigations.
With no small hypocrisy the memo informing Covington
& Burlington of the suspension reads that the White House was launching a “review
…of their roles and responsibilities, if any, in the weaponization of the
judicial process”.
The loss of security clearance prevents a lawyer from working
on cases involving the federal government, so is a significant penalty.
Washington attorney Bradley Moss, who also had his
security clearance revoked by Trump, said in response to the Covington & Burling
suspension:
“This is
nothing less than a petty and vindictive attack on the legal profession, … how
far is he going to take this war against the legal profession, and against
anyone who stands for the rule of law?”
Then yesterday (March 6), Trump went after another law
firm. Perkins Coie worked for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign and were involved
with the Steele dossier that found Russian collusion in the Trump campaign.
Yesterday Trump signed an executive order suspending
security clearances with all employees in the firm, cancelled government contracts,
and restricted their lawyers’ access to federal buildings. Here comes the hypocrisy
again – Trump said “This is an absolute honor to sign. What they’ve done is
just terrible. It’s weaponization … against a political opponent, and it should
never be allowed to happen again.” The order accuses the firm of “undermining
democratic elections, the integrity of our courts, and honest law enforcement.”
A lawsuit filed in 2022 by Trump against Hillary
Clinton, Perkins Coie, and others alleging a conspiracy to harm his campaign
for president was dismissed by a judge for lacking merit.
A Perkins Coie spokesperson responded to the order “It
is patently unlawful, and we intend to challenge it”.
Now here is the line recited by Jack Cade in Henry IV that
precedes the famous quote:
“Be brave, then; for your
captain is brave, and vows reformation. There shall be in England seven half-penny
loaves sold for a penny; the three-hoop’d pot shall have ten hoops; and I will
make it a felony to drink small beer…when I am king, as king I will be”.
Bragging about himself, greatly exaggerating his expected
accomplishments, and promising to reduce inflation on his first day as king –
does that remind you of anyone?
Sources:
https://lithub.com/what-did-shakespeare-mean-when-he-wrote-lets-kill-all-the-lawyers/
https://www.upi.com/Archives/1985/06/28/Stevens-No-lets-not-kill-all-the-lawyers/1571488779200/
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/25/us/trump-jack-smith-law-firm-security.html
Update March 11
Today, Tuesday March 11, Perkins Coie files a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, against the Trump administration over last week's executive order, along with a request for a temporary restraining order to bar enforcement of the executive order. You can read their 10 point document "What this case is about" here courtesy of TCinLA substack.
https://tcinla757.substack.com/p/what-this-case-is-about
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/perkins-coie-files-suit-block-trump-executive-order/story?id=119688162
No comments:
Post a Comment