As my final message as a Bar Commissioner and President of the Board of Commissioners, it does not do justice to merely say that it has been my sincere privilege and honor to serve the Idaho State Bar. We are so fortunate to practice in a Bar where the key tenets of professionalism, civility, and integrity are not only valued but are put into practice every day by the members of our Bar. My tenure as Bar Commissioner has been an educational experience and a poignant reminder of the impact lawyers can have on the lives of others. I am grateful for the opportunity to serve the Bar as Commissioner, and I commend the hard work and dedication of the unsung heroes at the Idaho State Bar and Bar Counsel’s Office.

In my first article as Commissioner (November 2022) [i], I quoted former Bar President Fred Hoopes, who served on the Board of Commissioners from 2000-2003. I did not have the good fortune to know Mr. Hoopes, but from my review of his writings, he keenly understood the importance and significance of being a lawyer. He appreciated the charge we carry as members of the legal profession, the high purpose we hold as officers of the court, and the influence we have to promote equal justice, freedom, and the rule of law. It seems fitting to close my term with another writing of his—one that is timely and bears remembering. 

The following text is from Mr. Hoopes’s presentation to newly admitted members of the Idaho State Bar, and they ring as true today as ever.[ii]

May it please the court. Members of the Court, distinguished guests, new lawyers, families and friends:

Twenty-seven years ago, I was sworn to uphold the Constitution of the United States of America and of the State of Idaho, just like you did. I remember the solemnity of the judges, all in their robes. I remember the pride in my wife’s and family’s eyes. I remember their congratulations. My oldest daughter was here in her mother’s arms. She was not quite seven months old. Now she is a second-year law student at George Washington Law School. What I don’t remember is the speaker, or anything he said. I never thought I would be a speaker. I should have paid more attention. I do have a message, and though I doubt you will remember me, I hope you will remember some of what I say. Consider this:

•        He drafted the Declaration of Independence, that for more than 200 years is still the most revolutionary document of democracy. His name was Thomas Jefferson, and he was a student of the law.

•        He was at the miracle of Philadelphia, the Constitutional Convention, fighting for the inclusion of the Bill of Rights, a model for freedom the world over. His name was James Madison, and he was a lawyer.

•        He stood in the rain at Gettysburg, tears in his eye, gaunt, exhausted, and he rededicated our country to equality, saving the Union. His name was Abraham Lincoln, and he was a lawyer.

•        Speaking to us from a wheelchair, lifting us up from despair and leading the free world in the fight to save democracy with the words “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” His name was Franklin D. Roosevelt, and he was a lawyer.

•        By self-sacrificing example of passive resistance, he threw off the shackles of empire and brought forth an independent democracy in India. His name was Mahatma Gandhi, and he was a lawyer.

•        He drove a stake through the heart of Jim Crow by bringing Brown v. Board of Education and laid the legal foundation for the civil rights movement. His name was Thurgood Marshall and that was real lawyering.

Closer to Home:

•        He served the State of Idaho from 1907 to 1940 in the United States Senate. A mountain is named after him. His name was William E. Borah. He was a lawyer.

•        Borah said this Idaho governor had “defended, more men and got them acquitted and prosecuted more men and got them convicted” than any man in America. His name was James H. Hawley. He was a lawyer.

•        In the tradition of Borah, he served Idaho in the United States Senate, was Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a candidate for President in 1976. We gave his name to a Wilderness. He was Frank Church. He was a lawyer.

•        Twenty-four of 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence were lawyers.

•        Twenty-nine of the 40 delegates to the Constitutional Convention were lawyers.

•        More than half the Presidents of the United States have been lawyers.

•        America was founded and formed by lawyers, more so than any country on earth. I believe it is no coincidence that we are the freest.

Our Bill of Rights did not, by itself guarantee life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all Americans for all time. The ideal is there. Now we must struggle with the reality to enlarge our freedoms and promote human dignity and eliminate injustice as lawyers have for the past 200 years.

Today you join a tradition of which you can be proud. It is lawyers who make people live by the rule of the law—who right wrongs—who ensure freedom, safety and justice. Lawyering breathes life into the Constitution, the Bill of Rights. Other nations have had constitutions guaranteeing citizens broad human rights, but with no tradition of lawyering they are a dead letter.

When you are so fortunate to be a lawyer, you stand between the abuse of government power and people. You curb abuses of corporate power. You even curtail judicial excess, and you give the individual voice a chance to be heard.

When you are a lawyer, you can be the pin that pricks the balloon of society’s smugness and the hairshirt of its complacency.

As a lawyer, you help mold the rights of people for generations to come. You make a difference.

There is dignity here. It is not the product, however, of these high ceilings and paneled walls.

The aura of this place is the product of the high purposes served here: truth, equal justice and the rule of law.

*  *  *

In my view, those last words bear repeating for it is “truth, equal justice, and the rule of law” that give purpose and dignity to our noble profession. It is my wish for each of you that someday, someone will add your name to Mr. Hoopes’s list and that you too will be recognized for your contributions to furthering the principles of truth, equal justice, and the rule of law.

Mary V. York is a proud 31-year member of the Idaho State Bar. She currently serves as the President of the Idaho State Bar Board of Commissioners and as Commissioner representing the Fourth District.

[i] Mary V. York, Judicial Independence: A Cornerstone of Democracy Which Must be Defended, 65 The Advocate 11/12 (2022).

[ii] Because I find Mr. Hoopes’s presentation so meaningful, I have shared it on a number of other occasions, including the Admission Ceremony held on May 2, 2025, and the University of Idaho, College of Law Admitted Student Day held on March 21, 2025.