Political Quotes

“Madam President, I rise to pay tribute to John Hardiman, public defender for the State of Rhode Island, who passed away several days ago. John was, frankly, the finest public servant I have ever seen in my entire career, as a soldier, as an elected official. I have never encountered anyone with the dedication, decency, and the determination of John Hardiman. He literally devoted his life to the office of public defender in the State of Rhode Island. He graduated from law school in 1982. He started as a staff attorney there, worked his way up to the head of trial division, and then became the public defender for the entire State of Rhode Island. His life was devoted to the law. Quietly, persistently, with diligence, dedication, and decency, he sought to do justice--justice not to the powerful or privileged but for the powerless. Indeed, in many cases, his clients were not only notorious; they were infamous. But John knew the test of our ideals, the test of our legal system, and of our constitutional form of government was that the laws would not simply protect the powerful and privileged, but that they protect all Americans. Above the entrance of the U.S. Supreme Court are the words ``Equal Justice Under Law.'' For many people, even lawyers, those are just words. For John Hardiman, it was his life's vocation, and he made real those words in the lives of every Rhode Islander. John was a tenacious advocate, but he was always a remarkably modest and decent man.…”