The Call of Our Times 

Comrades, friends, and colleagues, we are facing difficult times. The repression is relentless. The threats are palpable and real.

But the call of our times is clear: to continue, to stand firm, and to multiply the ranks of people’s lawyers who will not flinch in the face of fear.

And to mindlessly gloss over that this award was given automatically for mere length of years as a lawyer is to bestow it to even those who make a mockery of the lofty IBP ideals of no master but law, no goal but justice, and no guide but conscience.