Capitol Words a project of the Sunlight Foundation

Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich

Mr. Speaker, I rise to remember the judges and attorneys who served the people of Northeast Ohio who died in 2010. These men and women will be remembered on Monday April 4, 2011, by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio and the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association at the Annual Greater Cleveland Bench-Bar Memorial Program at the Howard Metzenbaum U.S. Courthouse in Cleveland.

Ours is a ``government of laws, not of men.'' This is a quote from John Adams and a concept that goes back to ancient Greece and is the root of our democratic principles. But the laws are not mere words on paper or the brick and mortar of which our courthouses are built. The law is made alive by the men and women who practice it every day in our municipal, state and federal courts. Through their professionalism, knowledge, and passion for the institutions of our democracy, they ensure that the people are given the full opportunity for the just resolution of their cases and controversies. We remember those professionals who, until their passing in 2010, gave life to the democratic principles or our great legal institutions.

We remember the Honorable Ann Aldrich, Frank D. Aquila, the Honorable Sam H. Bell, the Honorable Frank D. Celebrezze, James P. Conway, John R. Crombie, James H. Dempsey, Jr., Charles M. Driggs, Donald W. Farley, Stanley M. Fisher, Martin F. Franey, David R. Fullmer, Judd H. Gross, Irwin S. Haiman, J. Richard Hamilton, J. Bruce Hunsicker, Denise A. Jackson, Aaron Jacobson, Richard Leukart, James T. Lynn, Stanley B. Kent, Kenneth W. Kleinman, William I. Kohn, the Honorable Alvin I. Krenzler, George W. Lutjen, Howard A. Marken, the Honorable Thomas J. Moyer, the Honorable August Pryatel, Richard C. Renkert, Mark J. Savage, John E. Schoonover, Kenneth F. Seminatore, John E. Smeltz, Terry Ronald Smith, Marvin Sorin, Phillip P. Taylor, Stanley Tolliver, Michael R. Tucker, Nicholas Valentino, John R. Vintilla, Edmond A. Wigley, Allan J. Zambie, Robert I. Zashin, and the Honorable Joseph A. Zingales.

Mr. Speaker and honored colleagues, let us remember the great men and women of the law who left our physical world last year but also left their legacy of principle and passion for the law alive in our hands. Let us hope that today's attorneys and judges follow in their footsteps so that all of the people continue to share in the great institution of the law which makes our democracy great.