an elected official, or "lawyer" who protects the ordinary citizens

by Leonor Kling 9 min read

What is a citizen lawyer?

Many in William & Mary’s history would have understood a citizen lawyer primarily to be someone who went into public service, who served as an elected official, or who otherwise held a public position in the governments of the early United States.

Who is the client of a municipal lawyer?

In the public interest model, according to Professor Sanders, either the government's or public's interests are the municipal lawyer's "client." The obvious concern with this model is that the attorney must decide who the client is and what position to take.

What is the duty of a lawyer in a government organization?

RPC 1.13 states simply in its initial sentence that "a lawyer employed or retained by an organization represents the organization acting through its duly authorized constituents." The duty defined in RPC 1.13 applies to governmental organizations, as well. RPC 1.13, Comment 9.

What is an individual lawyer?

Individual lawyers (also called attorneys) are experts in different areas of the law. Some attorneys specialize in a certain field of law, such as business, civil, criminal, or juvenile law. You will need to determine which type of attorney is right for your legal situation.

Who is protected by the Constitution?

Fourteenth Amendment, Section 1: All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.

What does the 14th Amendment says?

No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

How does the government protect the rights of citizens?

The Bill of Rights protects freedom of speech, freedom of religion, the right to keep and bear arms, the freedom of assembly and the freedom to petition. It also prohibits unreasonable search and seizure, cruel and unusual punishment and compelled self-incrimination.

Who does the 14th Amendment apply to?

The Fourteenth Amendment is an amendment to the United States Constitution that was adopted in 1868. It granted citizenship and equal civil and legal rights to African Americans and enslaved people who had been emancipated after the American Civil War.

What does the 15th Amendment say?

FIFTEENTH AMENDMENT The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of ser- vitude. SECTION 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

What is Fifth Amendment right?

noun. an amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1791 as part of the Bill of Rights, providing chiefly that no person be required to testify against himself or herself in a criminal case and that no person be subjected to a second trial for an offense for which he or she has been duly tried previously.

Who is responsible for protecting the rights of its citizens?

The short answer to 'who protects our human rights? ' is: 'All of us. ' Whether it's the UN, our governments, public authorities, institutions, businesses, or each of us as individuals – we all have a role to play in understanding, respecting and defending human rights.

Who is responsible to protect the basic rights given by state?

The protection of basic rights is the responsibility of supreme court and high court in India.

What laws protect human rights?

Human rights: you are protected by the Constitution. Human rights are the basic rights a person is born with. ... Equality. Every person has the right to be treated equally and to receive equal protection of the law. ... Privacy. ... Human dignity. ... Freedom of expression. ... Religious freedom. ... Arrested persons. ... Labour relations.More items...

How does the 14th Amendment protect individual rights?

After the Civil War, Congress adopted a number of measures to protect individual rights from interference by the states. Among them was the Fourteenth Amendment, which prohibits the states from depriving “any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.”

Which laws protect citizens from human rights violations?

Bill of Rights Chapter 2, Section 7-39Rights.Application.Equality.Human dignity.Life.Freedom and security of the person.Slavery, servitude and forced labour.Privacy.More items...

What are the 13th 14th and 15th Amendments?

Reconstruction Amendments: Definition and Overview The 13th Amendment abolished slavery. The 14th Amendment gave citizenship to all people born in the US. The 15th Amendment gave Black Americans the right to vote.

What is an individual lawyer?

Individual lawyers (also called attorneys) are experts in different areas of the law. Some attorneys specialize in a certain field of law, such as business, civil, criminal, or juvenile law. You will need to determine which type of attorney is right for your legal situation.

What is law help interactive?

Law Help Interactive - This program helps you fill out legal forms for free, such as those dealing with:

What does it mean to be a citizen lawyer?

Today, we choose a broader definition of what it means to be a citizen lawyer: one that is open to all who come to William & Mary to become a different kind of lawyer. Today’s citizen lawyer is as diverse as our society — we are citizens of the world. We understand the responsibilities that come with our law degree to be those that we bring with us no matter what our role: corporate lawyer, litigator, in-house counsel, public interest or government lawyer, educator, board member, or however else we make use of our skills. We take our values with us no matter where we work or the client we serve. We find ways to use our legal skills to make the world around us better, whether at the highest levels of government or in our own neighborhood organizations. We approach problems with integrity, judgment, and an awareness of the effects of our work beyond the challenge at hand. We seek collaboration and conversation across a wide range of experiences and viewpoints, always with the goal of improving the law.

Is William and Mary a citizen lawyer?

William & Mary has trained citizen lawyers from its founding. Although the term “citizen lawyer” came to be used more recently, our early ideal was that a William & Mary lawyer wouldn’t simply be a legal technician who had memorized cases and statutes but would be someone who understood how the law worked in the world and who brought insight ...

Who is the Attorney's Client?

The answer to the above question is easily stated but difficult to apply: In Washington State, the municipality as an entity is the lawyer's client.

Who has the power to approve law suits?

RCW 35A.13.120. A city council does have the authority to approve law suits, even under a mayor-council form of government. RCW 35A.12.100.

What is the Washington State Bar Association's Ethics Line?

For guidance in resolving a conflict issue, a lawyer may call the Washington State Bar Association's Ethics Line, 206.727.8284. MRSC is a private nonprofit organization serving local governments in Washington State. Eligible government agencies in Washington State may use our free, one-on-one Ask MRSC service to get answers to legal, policy, ...

What happens if the city council disagrees with the mayor?

If the council disagrees with the mayor (and the city attorney) in such circumstances, the council may be faced with the difficult question of its authority to engage separate legal counsel.

Can a prosecuting attorney represent a commissioner?

In such an event the prosecuting attorney would determine whether the office of prosecuting attorney could represent the commissioner, without creating conflict with representation of the client county.

Is it difficult to define the identity of a client?

Defining precisely the identity of the client and prescribing the resulting obligations of such lawyers may be more difficult in the governmental context and is a matter beyond the scope of these Rules.

Is the Washington Supreme Court a regulator?

Washington courts have addressed from time to time the argument that government lawyers are held to a higher standard than lawyers representing the private sector (there are particular standards that apply to criminal prosecution that are not addressed in this column). When acting as regulator, the Washington Supreme Court has stated that government is to act "scrupulously just" when dealing with its citizens. State ex.rel. Shannon v. Sponburgh, 66 Wn.2d 135, 143, 401 P.2d 635 (1965). But that standard does not apply in the normal course of a lawyer's representation of a government client.

Answer

Out of the options listed, Answer D. State representative is the position in which the person is elected into office. A state representative is someone who is elected into office to help make decisions that reflect the overall ideas of the state they represent.

Answer

State representatives, also known as congressmen and congresswomen, are elected officials who represent specific congressional districts within a state, defined by population. Representatives are elected to two-year terms.

Which amendment allows people to petition the government for a redress of grievances?

Finally, the First Amendment allows for people to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

What is protected speech?

A protected speech is a speech which is protected by the constitutional law of the state and enjoy full freedom such as freedom of speech & freedom of expression.

Which amendment guarantees the right to freedom of speech?

They believe that the First Amendment personally guarantees THEM an inalienable right to speech, press, religion, and so on.

What is the goal of a citizen lawsuit?

One goal of a citizen lawsuit might be financial compensation to the citizen for environmental harm caused by a polluter. It may be appropriate to set relatively strict limits on the ability of a plaintiff to obtain such compensation. Those responsible for designing and implementing a system of judicial enforcement may decide that financial benefits should only accrue to someone who has actually suffered from the complained-of harm.

Why are citizens important?

Their number makes them more pervasive than the largest government agency. And because citizens work, play, and travel in the environment, each has a personal stake in its beauty, health, and permanence. (1) Citizens are omnipresent, motivated, and uniquely interested in environmental quality.

What is the policy decision of 58.This?

58.This policy decision often has strategic consequences for the citizen litigant. A plaintiff who happens to qualify for both a common law damages action and a statutory enforcement action might bring the two concurrently, thereby hoping to increase her bargaining power over the violator.

What is judicial review under NEPA?

As with many other environmental regulations, judicial review under NEPA has been limited to an examination of the procedural rather than the substantive requirements of the statute. Nonetheless, those procedural requirements, enforced by citizen suits, have forced agencies at least to examine the environmental consequences of their actions -- a significant step beyond the pre-NEPA requirements. For additional information about the relationship between the substantive and procedural requirements of NEPA and the role both have played in altering agency action, see

What is the standing requirement for environmental laws?

In the United States, courts have limited the category of plaintiffs eligible to enforce environmental controls by requiring that the plaintiff possess "standing" to bring the suit. The standing requirement stems both from the U.S. Constitution and from judicial interpretation of environmental statutes containing citizen suit provisions. Under the constitution, as interpreted by the Supreme Court, plaintiffs bringing a lawsuit must allege that: (1) they have been or will be injured by the actions or threatened actions of the defendant; (2) the injury is traceable to the challenged action; and (3) the harm alleged is likely to be redressed by a favorable decision. (78) These requirements are supposed to ensure that the judiciary engages only in redressing actual wrongs, not in the policymaking activities that the constitution entrusts to the legislative branch. (79) Traditionally, this standard required an economic injury. For example, if the stream running past an outdoor cafe becomes polluted by an upstream paper mill, driving away patrons, the cafe-owner would have standing to sue the mill-owner. (80)Over the years in the U.S., changing attitudes, the scope of environmental regulation, and broad citizen suit provisions have altered the contours of this standing test. During the inception of the environmental citizen suit movement in the 1970s, courts found even a plaintiff's allegation of occasional or anticipated aesthetic injury sufficient to confer standing. (81) For example, a plaintiff might have alleged successfully that her view of a national park she had visited and planned to visit again was being impaired by emissions from a regional power plant.

What is the remedy a citizen litigant may desire?

3.2.4.1 The Nature of the RemedyFinally, the remedy a citizen litigant may desire is the accomplishment of a particular regulatory action by the government. The plaintiff may hope to force the agency to perform a task the legislature has assigned to it. In such cases, barriers to suit will likely be minimal, because the private party is simply forcing the agency to initiate an action the legislature has already endorsed, not attempting to dictate the way in which the action should be carried out or the action's end result.

How can citizen participation be effective?

For citizen participation to be truly effective, the system of environmental regulation must provide the mechanisms to accommodate and encourage it. The most obvious such accommodation -- on which this paper has focused -- is the provision of avenues allowing citizens to go to court to force agency action, challenge the results of agency government decisions, or prosecute violators. Even if these avenues are made available, citizens may be able to use them only if the law includes cost-and fee-shifting provisions like those mentioned in Section 3.4 above.