...and we should be an impenetrable bulwark against any authoritarian encroachment or attempts to undermine the rule of law. If you cannot be that bulwark right now, I can sympathize. We all have competing, vitally important obligations. But turn in your bar card. We took an oath.

Lawyers, we don’t get to place the rule of law, honesty, and courtesy under other competing interests, important as they may be. “Where are the judges? Where are the lawyers?” We are right here...

and that I will faithfully and impartially discharge all the duties incumbent upon me as Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney for the County of Albemarle according to the best of my ability, so help me God.”

Before being permitted to serve as an officer of the Commonwealth of Virginia, I had to take the following oath:

“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully support the Constitution of the United States, and the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Virginia...

....and execute my office of attorney at law to the best of my ability, so help me God.”

I remember keenly taking this oath in the middle of a rare hurricane in Richmond in October of 2012.

“I do solemnly swear or affirm that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and that I will faithfully, honestly, professionally, and courteously demean myself in the practice of law...

Before any attorney can practice law in the Commonwealth of Virginia, he or she must take the following oath:

But fellow lawyers, when it comes to the rule of law, that is not us. We take oaths. We should probably ceremonially repeat our oaths from time-to-time (like a religious creed) to remind ourselves of the solemnity and centrality of our duties.

Family security? Job stability? Do I have a duty to shareholders? How many employees depend on me? What might get in the way of being efficacious? All these factors might lead to the prudential decision to pick your battles, appease, or lay low or keep the target off your back