“We are under a Constitution, but the Constitution is what the judges say it is, and the judiciary is the safeguard of our liberty and of our property under the Constitution.”

—Charles Evans Hughes (1862-1948)
Speech at Elmira, N.Y. (May 3, 1907)

In the American judicial system, the rights of accused killer David Westerfield are as carefully guarded as those of 7-year-old victim Danielle Van Dam; as are the rights of countless other alleged perpetrators or casualties of crime. From its birth more than 200 years ago, the legal system has protected the rights of the individual — every individual — regardless of age, ability to pay, community status or side of the law.

Since 1961, when the first day of May was declared “Law Day U.S.A.” by a joint resolution of Congress, the country has taken a yearly look at the health of the legal process, assessing whether it continues to meet the aspirations of such early visionaries as Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, or needs to be guided back on track.

Because judges have the responsibility of protecting the rights of society as a whole, as well as each of its members, their perspectives of the judicial system would seem to be ideal for looking back on those lofty early intentions, as well as forward to staying the course. San Diego County has 150-plus Superior Court judges overseeing all aspects of the legal system, some newly elected, some who have served for many years.

Judge-elect Peter Gallagher — an experienced deputy district attorney and assistant U.S. attorney, who will take over judicial seat No. 50 sometime in the next year — says becoming a Superior Court judge is part of a dream born 20 years ago. “Being a judge is the top of the legal profession,” he says. “What I loved about being a district attorney is the public service aspect, serving the greater good of society. You have to be ready to listen to both sides. The judge calls the balls and strikes. I’ve been instructed to follow the law and that’s what I’m going to do.”

Like Gallagher, Judge Desirée Bruce-Lyle is enthusiastic about the American legal system. Bruce-Lyle immigrated to the United States from Ghana at the age of 22 and will celebrate her first anniversary as a Superior Court judge this month. Currently assigned to Downtown’s Drug Court, she served as a workers’ compensation judge for 10 years and a deputy county counsel for eight years before being appointed to Superior Court.

“The ability to have a positive influence is most satisfying,” says Bruce-Lyle. “It is heart-warming to have a defendant stand up and tell you how long they have been clean and sober, whether it is seven days or 400 days. When cases are being dismissed, it can be very moving. They can’t believe they have survived Drug Court and have a future before them.”

And even though this mother of three grown children says she occasionally has to send someone to jail for failing a court-ordered drug test, it’s those who are successful that keep her positive. Bruce-Lyle says she often thinks of the story of a little boy standing on a beach covered with thousands of starfish. The boy picks up the starfish one at a time and throws them back into the ocean so they won’t die sand-locked, but he barely makes a mark on the multitude of stranded fish.

“An elderly man comes along,” she says, “and asks the boy, ‘Do you really think you’re making a difference?’ The boy picks up a starfish and throws it into the ocean and says, ‘I just made a difference to that one.’”

Judge Judy Guy-Schall, currently assigned to the Vista courthouse in North County, was appointed to the bench in 1985. Like Bruce-Lyle, it’s the positive stories that keep her motivated.

“Sometimes you make a judgment call on giving someone a second chance,” Guy-Schall says. She remembers going easy on a young man who had a history of stealing and taking drugs. “He didn’t have a good record, but there was just something about him,” she says. “A year or so later, I called for a plumber. When the plumber showed up, he said, ‘You don’t remember me. You gave me a chance when no one else would, and I have been clean and sober for over a year. I actually have a cat. I never had a pet before because I only cared for myself.’”

Now assigned to Civil Court, Guy-Schall remains confident about the well-being of the legal process, but admits to periodic concerns about attorneys who come to her courtroom underprepared and undereducated about their clients’ cases.

“I have had to stop myself from stepping in when an attorney was not doing their job,” Guy-Schall says. “Attorneys need to do their homework and give clients realistic expectations. They need to educate themselves earlier on (in the case) and avail themselves of mediators more.”

Supervising judge of the South County courthouse in Chula Vista, Jesus Rodriguez oversees thousands of cases a year and, like Guy-Schall, sees men and women who do not get the best of the system in every situation.

“We strive for a perfect system, but that’s not always what we get,” Rodriguez says. “A person can be arrested but never taken before the court because of a glitch in the computer. They can sit in jail for two to three weeks before anyone notices them.”

Rodriguez also fears the framers of the Constitution would be “shocked” at how far the country has gone in legislating more aspects of life than originally intended. “They would not be pleased at all the things we legislate, down to the size of a wheel on a car,” Rodriguez says. “In the juvenile and drug area, we’ve become social workers and collection agencies. Our case management system is from the 1960s. We need to upgrade the computer system now, but that takes time and money.”

Despite being occasionally frustrated at the frequently overcrowded court docket, Rodriguez is doing what he always wanted to do. “I grew up in a high crime area of Otay Mesa,” he says. “I saw my friends get in trouble and wanted to do something to be an asset to the community.”

Taking stock of the legal system through the eyes of those most intimately involved, like Bruce-Lyle, Guy-Schall, Rodriguez and fellow team members including litigators, mediators and support staff, goes to the core of Law Week.

And while every year Law Week has a patriotic focus, this year’s theme of “Liberty and Justice For All” seems particularly appropriate to George Brewster, San Diego County counsel and co-chair for this year’s festivities. “This year it’s taken to heart,” Brewster says. “We want to emphasize that this is a country of law and we hold this dearly.”

He also is pleased that those involved in the legal system seem to be enjoying a more positive image since the terrorist events last September. Brewster, who has a second career drawing cartoons says, in the past, his 8-year-old son told friends his dad was a cartoonist rather than an attorney. “Now he tells friends his dad is an attorney,” Brewster laughs. “Although the attitude toward the law has its ups and downs, (Law Week) offers a good time to remind people that attorneys are here to help and get involved in the community.”

Law Week 2002, from April 29 to May 4, hosted by the San Diego County Bar Association and Lawyer Referral and Information Service, will offer a variety of scheduled events, including Ask-A-Lawyer Night where attorneys will field questions from KNSD 7/39 viewers; Youth Day in Court and Job Shadow Day in which local high school students will get a chance to see the court system in action; and Family Law Assistance Day and Free Law at Kobey’s Swap Meet.

“The week of activities will provide a lot of ways for outreach to the community,” says Monty McIntyre, SDCBA president. “We’re probably one of the most active bar associations in the country in putting out a number of programs for Law Week. Law week has huge importance to our country. Our freedom and values are built on a foundation of the English/American tradition of the law. When we think about 9/11, it was an attack on our freedom and values, freedom that was given birth through lawyers like Thomas Jefferson, who drafted the Declaration of Independence, and John Adams, also an attorney, who led the debate that resulted in its adoption by the Second Continental Congress. Attorney Abraham Lincoln took the country through another national crisis, the Civil War. History is full of examples of how lawyers have made a difference in creating and preserving our freedom.”

As in Bruce-Lyle’s story about the little boy on the beach, Law Week celebrates how, as a nation, we continue to care about each starfish, whether mired in sand or swimming free.