Reno counsels CU law students to use training, as citizen-advocates

Anup Bogineni, an undergraduate in the College of Engineering, left, asks Janet Reno a question following her Feb. 12 Yudowitz lecture, while Law School Dean Lee Teitelbaum looks on. The gift under Reno's arm is a framed poster advertising her Myron Taylor Hall talk, presented to her by the dean. Sheryl D. Sinkow Photography

By Linda Myers

"The role of the lawyer is both sword and shield," Janet Reno '60 told a roomful of Cornell law students and faculty Feb. 12 in Myron Taylor Hall's Stein Mancuso Amphitheater. "Lawyers as concerned citizens can make a difference if they focus on issues vital to the health of their communities and identify needs and resources," said the former U.S. attorney general.

Reno, who spent two weeks on campus as a Frank H.T. Rhodes Class of '56 University Professor, spoke about the intersection of law and public health during her final public address, the Bernard S. Yudowitz Lecture on Law and Medicine at the Law School.

While Reno praised both the U.S. public health system and the legal system, she said: "My fear is that the law isn't worth the paper it is written on for poor people who do not have access to justice."

She cataloged a host of ills that prey on society's most vulnerable members and ultimately lead to injury, lawsuits, court cases and jail sentences -- costly and damaging outcomes that might have been prevented through early intervention, she asserted.

Calling the plight of the indigent mentally ill "one of the most heartbreaking situations we face in our communities," Reno said, "These are people who, with deinstitutionalization, came into our community expecting the support mechanisms and services we promised them would be there, and found that they weren't." She called for better training of police officers in dealing with the mentally ill.

Reno also cited infants born to crack-addicted parents, who languished in institutional wards without love or care and reacted by withdrawing emotionally, while the state postponed deciding their futures. She asked: "What good will all our laws be if we don't make sure our children are cared for within the first three years of their lives? The earlier you can identify a need, the quicker you can address it -- but instead we wait."

Other problems Reno cited were an unresponsive educational system, not enough adequate public housing and lives so filled with despair that they led to domestic violence (which she called "a death waiting to happen") and youth violence involving firearms, alcohol and drug abuse.

"It doesn't make sense that we wait [to act] until a crisis occurs," she said. "It's penny wise, pound foolish." However, part of the problem is that U.S. society is organized in ways that make it impossible to solve such problems. "We need to get our police, hospitals, criminal justice system and local educational systems all working together to create community."

As an example, Reno cited the Drug Corps, a substance-abuse prevention program for first offenders that began in Dade County, Fla., in 1987 and that is now being replicated in 500 locations across the country.

Stressing that societal ills are "human issues, not partisan issues," she advised the future lawyers in the audience to go out and gather the data, show the cost savings in lives and dollars of early intervention, then learn to "play poker with the mayor" and use their influence to suggest needed changes.

Lawyers, operating pro bono through their law firms or as informed citizen-advocates, "can navigate the system and start to help make a difference. It's amazing what you can do if you have a legal background and understand issues and how to argue."

While she acknowledged that state budget crises and the threat of war made the current climate challenging, she ended her talk by reaffirming her own belief in the indomitable nature of the human spirit and people's capacity to solve problems.

"I have seen people go through hell and come out stronger and better," Reno said. "Trust the people, and they will not disappoint you."