A law degree can be the light that helps alleviate darkness in someone’s life, Chief Judge Ruben Castillo of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois told new graduates of The John Marshall Law School.
“You need to challenge injustice. Injustice, I define as darkness, and there’s plenty of darkness out there, but it can be changed. I challenge you to be part of the brightness that is out there,” Castillo told the graduates at the 196th commencement exercises on Jan. 19, 2014.
On graduation day “your fireworks are going off because the law can be a bright light,” he told the graduates. “(The law degree) can make a difference. I’ve seen it make a difference.”
Castillo advised graduates that their law degrees are one of the best tools available to make society better by exposing issues, whether by pursuing major changes like new laws, or providing pro bono work for someone desperate for representation.
Castillo said often the systems that society has developed can be a part of the problem. This “darkness” can be fixed, he said, if we work to correct ineffective schools, a broken immigration system, our elective process, violence in neighborhoods and a criminal justice system that struggles to adequately provide fairness and equal representation.
“Every single time you exercise that light and make a deal better, make a trial better, make a law better, make a difference in somebody’s life,” he said, “that helps us all.”
