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REMARKS OF FARRIS BRYANT
DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF EMERGENCY PLANNING
BEFORE THE
FLORIDA BAR ASSOCIATION
HOLLYWOOD-BY-THE-SEA, FLOR IDA
JUNE 17, 1966
Seer at ry f Defense McNamara, sea. mnm ir Macn .esI am May 1, pa mte out o 'e the ac rations of the wor. w acs' annual vne capita inc'me is lurs than 3100, 32 of them have tee macle, i n ia f i can t ,onfli ct n r elas i tmc years. Inr-s the\ [atv suffered an average of two major rutreaks of violence per country I V-t per iod. These are goverr-ent' mar -f whcse people were not ccrv nce
-he were rece u m testice fro the wor) J. When law does eot hring jcatice, it not co aned men's loynlty; am, the vernTerts wh ich rest aoin un r js law e ind that their foundations rest upor lifting sands.
But what is ustice?
To a ball player--it is an honest umpire with rood eyesight.
TD a grape pck er--t is a fair ware and decent working conaitions.
To a Negro-- t is some yet ill-defined equaI i t y .
To a retellous college student, it is a vce in the affairs of the wor-i of which he has lately become aware.
To a hu band or father, it is the safety of his cife or laughter where r in,this lard they may be.
- 11
ror a chi l, it rs health and educate,
For an order citizen, it is secur ity in n ity .
The ,cand for jus tice takes a thousand for -. Lt e beauty, it seems to lie in 'ic eyso of the teholier.
Som-t me- demands for justice clash witi eact rther; sometimes they clash witi -oncepts of freedom and private pro r nty. and increasingly of late, with the s-aereignty of the law.
A few year- ago, i spoke e to yo about the importance of the role of our pro-es-icn in bringing home to this
- 12
generation the significance of dimly remembered and poorly understood concepts of freedom, and due process, and constitutional government. That is still our task!
But it is not our only task. It is the legal profession which has the continuing responsibility to conform a developing society to developing concepts of justice.
Somehow this Nation must achieve a workable and acceptable accommodation between all these conflicting demands. To fail is either to deny the minority or to overthrow the majority. In America, neither of those results is tolerable.
Somehow this Nation must achieve a balance be-ween the social progress to wn ioh we are onimtted, and the bedrk reedoms upon which our pro "- s r t .
I r- c. n y, full well that I have mov I into an area of discussion which s r .r.u ht with difficulty and d licacy It oles arund the philosophial aspi n of methods used to satisfy the cnstructive impulse of the Amer ican people to see that concepts of 0tCe grow as rapidly as our oul' urr, 0Lr technology, and our rcoar mv.
- 14
we have decided to hr rig the advantages of neaical science to the diseased and d sabled--how is it to be donei In a nation whics began with a cormiient that no American should be impr isoned fo debL, nor without due process, nor because of excessive bail, there is gradually fornino a commiitment tat no Amer i can shall se i mpr i soned because o disease if it is in te power of his fellows to free him.
vVe cannot rec il or retreat from the revolutioiary spir it of these times. The values that we cherish
are not ancient forms, but eternal rigts. We must not warp those rights, as they are enlarged by an err iched soc- ty, to fit ancient forms, but cha0e tome forms, or create new one to ernlarge our rights.
ae ive de ided to clear up our cities, and rake them both attractive and safe
--hw is iU to b done? how can we pre ent Fua lic abuses without es -royirg private rights? Every street today is posted against litter; eon, alley is protected against ftlth: How ran we carry forward this pr inciple
to 'smt stardards for the ma intenance of r ivate property which balance the r hts a the individual to use
his property as he cus wiso with the new demand whicr America is mak ing that our cities he attractive and healthful places in which to live?
How can we police our streets with the vigor and effectiveness that will insure the safety of the public without destroying the hard-earned liberties at the individually
lie have decided to give every child the o, ortunity to learn and to develop to his full potent al--how is it to be dont? How can we achieve that kird of equality aid not be bound to the lowest common denominator?
- 17
We have decided to clean our streams, res'2re 'he beauty to our landscapes, Take -fe c ur hiehways--how are these thing to be done? How can we expand the public domain and not compress the pr vate?
Thece are coals with which none can
quarrel because they do but seek for ever yone what everyone seeks for hi Ielf.
Somehow we must take the prarmatism of social and economic reform and fit it ito the idealism of political reform.
Those who gathered around King John at Runnymede did not compose the Magna Carta anc then derive from it freedom from tyranny. They first decided to tree themselves from tyranny, and then created the Magna Carta to secure their ideal.
Our forefathers did not first draw a Constitution and then adopt its goals. First they settled upon their goals, and ther framed our Constitution as an instrumert to achieve them.
The American people have settled upon goats which go beyond anything they have heretofore envisioned. As
REMARKS TO FLORIDA BAR ASSOCIATION, HOLLYWOOD-BY-THE SEA, JUNE 17, 1966
I have looked forward eagerly to this opportunity once again to be with the members of the Florida Bar. It is in a decree frustrating to have accepted this invitation at a time when I was engaged in the active
practice of law, and yet to be speaking to you at a time when my mind is filled with other matters.
The assignment I have taken in Washington is one of the most exciting and challenging that has ever confron ted
me.
- IS
Ame,--an, in tht lawjers we to bu L 1 .h we a, that we do awlab le
each one of us has a part ective process, but as have a special reaponsibilit5 I the legal vehicles by rive at these new dcals not destroy old and equally ghts as we move forward.
One of the developments of which was no t aware that has become apprene ti me since I have been in Washingtca, has been the influx of suceasful attorneys and bus inessmen ato the G-vernment, not because they seeded or were looking for a job,
- 20
but because they felt the need and a desire to do something with their lives more sat isfying than the roles they -ad previously been filling. I wish it were possible for every attorney, particularly, to serve for some time at some level of government so that he could, on the one hand, approach its problems with a broader understanding, and, on the other hand, bring to government the fresh and significant ipac:, of his tra in ins and exper ence in the pr ivate practice of law.
I canno- let th occasion pass without express ng the appreciation
whi-h I leel, and which I know the rre iden- 'eels, for the steadfastresE of ,ne people of Florida in the face of the difficulties and sacrifices whi h are The costs of the conflict in /iet Na It is not surprising tha! you who live so close to Cuba shcld hve a special understand eing 3f 'he threat which a Commun ist lcetorsh p poses for free men, but it ls none-the-less gratify ing that you co cc.
The tck i, Viet Nam is not a simple one -ertanly it is not an easy one.
- 22
f am quite sure that no one wishes more than the Fresident of the United States that it was not our task.
But we cannot expect others to honor our commitments if we do not honor them.
We car ot expect other: freedom it we do not.
We cannot expect other! aggression if we run.
to stand for to resist
Someone has said of democracy that it is tre worst fore of government-except t1l others.
- 23
I think it can be said of our policy in viet Nam that it is the worst policy--exept all others.
In the final analysis, our search for Justice at home and our battle for freedom abroad are part of the same nrand design--to secure for every man what, by reason of his membership in the human family, is hin cist due.
- 2
The control of strategic stockpiles, valued in billions and essential to our national survival; the preparation of plans for the regulation and allocation of our human and natural resources should war come; the
direction of the response of this nation to natural disasters which strike our people; the participation
in deliberations of the National Security Council; the responsibility
for the readiness and continuity of our governments in the event we are attacked; the role of Ambassador for the President to the Governors of this Nation; these are large tasks for a country lawyer, and they are for me a challenge which is constantly exciting.
the-e is a real excitement, too, about be, a a lawyer among lawyers, a challenge a their constant advocacy, a c mate of never-end inc crusade.
Ocra 'nal fra tern, -y
t to o for fresh i the -a t law --and t!
y, a law school or a legal will ask me to spak and ipture in a ocnsale of words ind eager minds something of 1, the sovereinty, of he
5 t os ci, tin,.
then there are those times whici every law or e pe r ences when he deals wi th som humble eti tioner at the bar of jus ';e, ar -ut of fear and confusion and 'r surderstanding brins forth agrement, and certa int --and tha t i s x- t nc .
And there are cccasons like this-conventions ike this -when lawyers come toretber in tieir never-ending attempt to increase the prooak ility that law and justi e are one and the sane--and that is exci tin .
hope [t has ac u-red to you that all of these aircunstarces possess their qualita of excitement because they revolae around the basic comm -rent of the fecal professiont- effect u t ce.
If lao has m-jesty, it is because it
_chodies justice. The appeal of law to youn nines --oun ideals--is not becau- it i! r fnstri ent of power,
nut because the power of the law -an be Jsed for Iust Ie. Remove ustic e from the lw and there is left only tyr ay.
I t the comfort and the strength of ae lw that in ansroaches stice. Fhi an imperfe t world, and tern t u ticn is eldon ach leve ; I t nVe 0 law, and willinonesa te abile i t e rees, and contentment
-It'' ts ,rdiaidat judn cents, re t totIly apcn a conviction that in all of aese, I approaches justice.
It the life of the law that it sents 'ustce. those of us who father
as today, wth a I that divie uS, are c o-vict Ion r at u coal. F'ait 'arch oar profess' icn; [ t our oc iety ind val r a ture.
trr I ues t r ons r I Ied irn the t ce is our coo r i r ot inly ,-t iie3 ies v talit to
- a es r t Jynartic
soc raty car
stiCe a If ust ce wi h,
soc e v e s r a aw.
1ar w without 'noot achieve awer is "o
T' at's why in a eat r t in .
that's a'v '; tnm a th world Crles DL I I has never don r
- r r j a' are,
t Ce a s' Sna t vI
s-a a s nifcant omnitment. All acr the narth, arrnv all nations and race:, men have caught a vision of a warld rn which every man recev es his lue, and every child is freed fro- the ar son of adverse ciru tance and that v sion is turn ing the world uose e jown .
The legal profesaion will ei other find a way to conform dynamic law to enp ndna oncepts of ustice, or the warld will indeed he turned upside down, ,
If we are honest with ourselves we are forced to reconize that most of
the turmoil wh h governments s the convict ion by the tr People for wrom 'he receiving their jo nS
Sverturn ine esuLt of the irle ma er tha
-reak ar not
'Ji e .
Ca'tro persiaes ni-self and the people of uila hat they lives murder an njsr 'yrte and that he coils creado one ir s rtch the farmer owned the land, the wae va-rer rece ived a fair wane, and every child could walk t, ouh educat cn's soors to un mitea rpsortun. Iy. Neave mind that t e vis a on ind tne reality are far apart-- t was the is ion that they naw, an:' wh ich ney served.
PAGE 1
REMARKS OF FARRIS BRYANT DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF EMERGENCY PLANNING BEFORE THE FLORIDA BAR ASSOCIATION HOLLYWOOD-BY-THE-SEA, FLOR IDA JUNE 17, 1966
PAGE 2
Seer at ry f Defense McNamara, sea. mnm ir Macn .esI am May 1, pa mte out o 'e the ac rations of the wor. w acs' annual vne capita inc'me is lurs than 3100, 32 of them have tee macle, i n ia f i can t ,onfli ct n r elas i tmc years. Inr-s the\ [atv suffered an average of two major rutreaks of violence per country I V-t per iod. These are goverr-ent' mar -f whcse people were not ccrv nce -he were rece u m testice fro the wor) J. When law does eot hring jcatice, it -not co aned men's loynlty; am, the vernTerts wh ich rest aoin un r js law e ind that their foundations rest upor lifting sands.
PAGE 3
But what is ustice? To a ball player--it is an honest umpire with rood eyesight. TD a grape pck er--t is a fair ware and decent working conaitions. To a Negro-t is some yet ill-defined equaI i t y To a retellous college student, it is a vce in the affairs of the wor-i of which he has lately become aware. To a hu band or father, it is the safety of his cife or laughter where r in,this lard they may be.
PAGE 4
-11 ror a chi l, it rs health and educate, For an order citizen, it is secur ity in n ity The ,cand for jus tice takes a thousand for -. Lt e beauty, it seems to lie in 'ic eyso of the teholier. Som-t medemands for justice clash witi eact rther; sometimes they clash witi -oncepts of freedom and private pro r nty. and increasingly of late, with the s-aereignty of the law. A few yearago, i spoke e to yo about the importance of the role of our pro-es-icn in bringing home to this
PAGE 5
-12 generation the significance of dimly remembered and poorly understood concepts of freedom, and due process, and constitutional government. That is still our task! But it is not our only task. It is the legal profession which has the continuing responsibility to conform a developing society to developing concepts of justice. Somehow this Nation must achieve a workable and acceptable accommodation between all these conflicting demands. To fail is either to deny the minority or to overthrow the majority. In America, neither of those results is tolerable.
PAGE 6
Somehow this Nation must achieve a balance be-ween the social progress to wn ioh we are onimtted, and the bedrk reedoms upon which our pro "s r t I rc. n y, full well that I have mov I into an area of discussion which s r .r.u ht with difficulty and d licacy It oles arund the philosophial aspi n of methods used to satisfy the cnstructive impulse of the Amer ican people to see that concepts of 0tCe grow as rapidly as our oul' urr, 0Lr technology, and our rcoar mv.
PAGE 7
-14 we have decided to hr rig the advantages of neaical science to the diseased and d sabled--how is it to be donei In a nation whics began with a cormiient that no American should be impr isoned fo debL, nor without due process, nor because of excessive bail, there is gradually fornino a commiitment tat no Amer i can shall se i mpr i soned because o disease if it is in te power of his fellows to free him. vVe cannot rec il or retreat from the revolutioiary spir it of these times. The values that we cherish
PAGE 8
are not ancient forms, but eternal rigts. We must not warp those rights, as they are enlarged by an err iched socty, to fit ancient forms, but cha0e tome forms, or create new one to ernlarge our rights. ae ive de ided to clear up our cities, and rake them both attractive and safe --hw is iU to b done? how can we pre ent Fua lic abuses without es -royirg private rights? Every street today is posted against litter; eon, alley is protected against ftlth: How ran we carry forward this pr inciple to 'smt stardards for the ma intenance of r ivate property which balance the r hts a the individual to use
PAGE 9
his property as he cus wiso with the new demand whicr America is mak ing that our cities he attractive and healthful places in which to live? How can we police our streets with the vigor and effectiveness that will insure the safety of the public without destroying the hard-earned liberties at the individually lie have decided to give every child the o, ortunity to learn and to develop to his full potent al--how is it to be dont? How can we achieve that kird of equality aid not be bound to the lowest common denominator?
PAGE 10
-17 We have decided to clean our streams, res'2re 'he beauty to our landscapes, Take -fe c ur hiehways--how are these thing to be done? How can we expand the public domain and not compress the pr vate? Thece are coals with which none can quarrel because they do but seek for ever yone what everyone seeks for hi Ielf. Somehow we must take the prarmatism of social and economic reform and fit it ito the idealism of political reform.
PAGE 11
Those who gathered around King John at Runnymede did not compose the Magna Carta anc then derive from it freedom from tyranny. They first decided to tree themselves from tyranny, and then created the Magna Carta to secure their ideal. Our forefathers did not first draw a Constitution and then adopt its goals. First they settled upon their goals, and ther framed our Constitution as an instrumert to achieve them. The American people have settled upon goats which go beyond anything they have heretofore envisioned. As
PAGE 12
REMARKS TO FLORIDA BAR ASSOCIATION, HOLLYWOOD-BY-THE SEA, JUNE 17, 1966 I have looked forward eagerly to this opportunity once again to be with the members of the Florida Bar. It is in a decree frustrating to have accepted this invitation at a time when I was engaged in the active practice of law, and yet to be speaking to you at a time when my mind is filled with other matters. The assignment I have taken in Washington is one of the most exciting and challenging that has ever confron ted me.
PAGE 13
-IS Ame,--an, in tht lawjers we to -bu L 1 .h we a, that we do awlab le each one of us has a part ective process, but as have a special reaponsibilit5 I the legal vehicles by rive at these new dcals not destroy old and equally ghts as we move forward. One of the developments of which was no t aware that has become apprene ti me since I have been in Washingtca, has been the influx of suceasful attorneys and bus inessmen ato the G-vernment, not because they seeded or were looking for a job,
PAGE 14
-20 but because they felt the need and a desire to do something with their lives more sat isfying than the roles they -ad previously been filling. I wish it were possible for every attorney, particularly, to serve for some time at some level of government so that he could, on the one hand, approach its problems with a broader understanding, and, on the other hand, bring to government the fresh and significant ipac:, of his tra in ins and exper ence in the pr ivate practice of law. I cannolet th occasion pass without express ng the appreciation
PAGE 15
whi-h I leel, and which I know the rre iden'eels, for the steadfastresE of ,ne people of Florida in the face of the difficulties and sacrifices whi h are The costs of the conflict in /iet Na .It is not surprising tha! you who live so close to Cuba shcld hve a special understand eing 3f 'he threat which a Commun ist lcetorsh p poses for free men, but it ls none-the-less gratify ing that you co cc. The tck i, Viet Nam is not a simple one -ertanly it is not an easy one.
PAGE 16
-22 f am quite sure that no one wishes more than the Fresident of the United States that it was not our task. But we cannot expect others to honor our commitments if we do not honor them. We car ot expect other: freedom it we do not. We cannot expect other! aggression if we run. to stand for to resist Someone has said of democracy that it is tre worst fore of government-except t1l others.
PAGE 17
-23 I think it can be said of our policy in viet Nam that it is the worst policy--exept all others. In the final analysis, our search for Justice at home and our battle for freedom abroad are part of the same nrand design--to secure for every man what, by reason of his membership in the human family, is hin cist due.
PAGE 18
-2 The control of strategic stockpiles, valued in billions and essential to our national survival; the preparation of plans for the regulation and allocation of our human and natural resources should war come; the direction of the response of this nation to natural disasters which strike our people; the participation in deliberations of the National Security Council; the responsibility for the readiness and continuity of our governments in the event we are attacked; the role of Ambassador for the President to the Governors of this Nation; these are large tasks for a country lawyer, and they are for me a challenge which is constantly exciting.
PAGE 19
the-e is a real excitement, too, about be, a a lawyer among lawyers, a challenge a their constant advocacy, a c mate of never-end inc crusade. Ocra -'nal fra tern, -y t -to o for fresh i the -a t law --and t! y, a law school or a legal will ask me to spak and ipture in a ocnsale of words ind eager minds something of 1, the sovereinty, of he 5 t os ci, tin,. then there are those times whici every law or e pe r ences when he deals wi th som humble eti tioner at the bar of jus ';e, ar -ut of fear and confusion and 'r surderstanding brins forth agrement, and certa int --and tha t i s xt nc
PAGE 20
And there are cccasons like this-conventions -ike this -when lawyers come toretber in tieir never-ending attempt to increase the prooak ility that law and justi e are one and the sane--and that is exci tin hope [t has ac u-red to you that all of these aircunstarces possess their qualita of excitement because they revolae around the basic comm -rent of the fecal professionteffect u t ce. If lao has m-jesty, it is because it _chodies justice. The appeal of law to youn nines --oun ideals--is not becauit i! r fnstri ent of power,
PAGE 21
nut because the power of the law -an be Jsed for Iust Ie. Remove ustic e from the lw and there is left only tyr ay. I t the comfort and the strength of ae lw that in ansroaches stice. Fhi an imperfe t world, and tern t u ticn is eldon ach leve ; I t nVe 0 law, and willinonesa te abile i t e rees, and contentment -It'' ts ,rdiaidat judn cents, re t totIly apcn a conviction that in all of aese, I approaches justice. It -the life of the law that it sents 'ustce. those of us who father
PAGE 22
as today, wth a I that divie uS, are c o-vict Ion r at u coal. F'ait 'arch oar profess' icn; [ t our oc iety ind val r a ture. trr I ues t r ons r I Ied irn the t ce is our coo r i r ot inly ,-t iie3 ies v talit to -a es r t Jynartic soc raty car stiCe a If ust ce wi h, soc e v e s r a aw. 1ar w without 'noot achieve awer is "o T' at's why in a eat r t in that's a'v '; tnm a th world Crles DL I I has never don r -r r j a' are, t Ce a s' Sna t vI
PAGE 23
s-a a s nifcant omnitment. All acr -the narth, arrnv all nations and race:, men have caught a vision of a warld rn which every man recev es his lue, and every child is freed frothe ar son of adverse ciru tance and that v sion is turn ing the world uose e jown The legal profesaion will ei other find a way to conform dynamic law to enp ndna oncepts of ustice, or the warld will indeed he turned upside down, If we are honest with ourselves we are forced to reconize that most of
PAGE 24
the turmoil wh h governments s the convict ion by the tr People for wrom 'he receiving their jo nS Sverturn ine esuLt of the irle ma er tha -reak ar not 'Ji e Ca'tro persiaes ni-self and the people of uila hat they lives murder an njsr 'yrte and that he coils creado one ir s rtch the farmer owned the land, the wae va-rer rece ived a fair wane, and every child could walk t, ouh educat cn's soors to un mitea rpsortun. Iy. Neave mind that t e vis a on ind tne reality are far apart-t was the is ion that they naw, an:' wh ich ney served.
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