As we pause this week to spend time with our loved ones and give thanks for our bounty as Americans and New Jerseyans, the evil and division we see in the daily headlines can put a pall on our celebration. It should not.

In good times, and especially in challenging times such as these, we are thankful for the democratic institutions and freedoms that allow us to address hatred, malfeasance and division while preserving our fundamental rights. As we witness a horrifying rise of antisemitism on campuses and elsewhere, we are thankful that it is being fought not by the elimination or curtailment of First Amendment rights, but by the persuasion of competing speech and legal actions. We are thankful that many law firms have exercised their power in the marketplace to condemn these actions and insist on protective proactive measures. We are thankful that alumni are exercising the power of their pocketbooks to insist upon change. We are thankful that our system of justice provides civil and criminal remedies when speech crosses the line into hate crimes, the incitement of violence, defamation or deprivation of civil rights. We are thankful that as lawyers, we have the power to promote the access to justice, provide pro bono representation to those in need, and to play a small but integral role in preserving a society for the good of all.

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