[Editor's Note: On April 12, 2001, the SCBA and the Federal Bar Association co-sponsored a speech by Judge Damrell at the United States Courthouse. For those of you who missed a thought-provoking speech, we are printing the text of Judge Damrell's remarks.]

As we have heard many times, the events of September 11th have brought about profound changes. I am sure since that date many of us have reflected upon the meaning of America. Despite the often harsh rancor of political debate, I believe many Americans of all political persuasions are truly seeking to rediscover the idea of America - not as partisans, but simply as citizens who seek common ground; who seek to understand First Principles and the social contract defined by the Supreme Law of the land, the Constitution. As an example, I believe the resurgence of interest in the lives of the Framers and the history of our beginnings is an effort to understand both the privileges and responsibilities of American citizenship.

I suggest, at this moment in history, it is particularly appropriate that lawyers and judges reflect on the remarkable gift of citizenship. Everyone in this courtroom, lawyers and judges alike, took an oath to "protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." When you think about it, that certainly is a rather generous commitment. In fact, it is a profound commitment. Over the last several years I have begun wondering exactly what it meant. I soon discovered that, outside of government, such a commitment was unique to selected citizens -- lawyers. As a result, when administering the oath to new admittees to the bar, I now remind them that before they take the oath, they are private citizens, but after they take that oath they became "public citizens" who assume obligations to our nation above and beyond those of private citizens.

What are these obligations? Certainly, we recognize there are obligations of the legal profession which effect the public interest. Prosecutors, government attorneys and lawyers who defend the rights of the accused serve the public interest. Importantly, when lawyers dedicate their professional career to public interest issues, they obviously serve the public. And to the extent all lawyers observe the Code of Ethics they ensure the integrity of the legal system. As officers of the court, lawyers contribute to the orderly administration of justice. That, too, is obviously in the national interest. In short, when lawyers embrace their lawyerly responsibilities they serve not only their profession, they serve the body politic. I believe, however, that the privilege of admission to the bar carries with it responsibilities in addition to the clients served, the Code of Ethics, and even in addition to the courts. I believe, particularly at this time, lawyers have a duty to serve this nation, much like those first American lawyers who offered their lives in service to this newborn country. As Justice Kennedy recently told members of the bar: "There is now a call to action for men and women who are advocates to begin advocating not just their client's cause, but America's cause." I believe the challenges confronting America today do not simply afford lawyers an opportunity to serve but, rather, impose an obligation to serve our nation.

Surely, we understand since September 11th our nation faces deadly challenges. Though some of the immediate fear and intensity may have lessened, we are constantly reminded we are still at war. We continue to search out and destroy terrorism in all its forms. But I submit we are engaged in a two front war. Today I wish to talk about the second war front. You will not read much about this war in newspapers or see reports of it on TV; yet, America is confronting an enemy as insidious as any terrorist organization.

This enemy has struck from time to time in the course of our history, but never has the threat been so deadly and pervasive. The enemy is ignorance and apathy. Ignorance of American history. Ignorance of American values. And the resulting deadly indifference caused by such ignorance. Surely, we should understand that, even if we destroy terrorism but do not conquer ignorance and apathy, our victory will be hollow and short lived. Indeed, if we, lawyers and judges, choose to do nothing and allow ignorance and apathy to flourish unabated, at that moment, when our nation triumphs over terrorism, we may also witness the death of the very values our country fought to defend. Thus, it befalls to this generation to confront Lincoln's prescient challenge that "We shall nobly save, or meanly lose the last, best, hope on earth."

And, not unlike the dark days in which those words were first uttered, we too are losing a war. Every report shows the enemy is moving toward what seems inevitable victory. More and more Americans, most of them young, are disconnected from the idea of America, itself, unconcerned about the responsibilities of citizenship, and ignorant of its meaning. Thomas Jefferson was concerned that this would happen. He was so fearful of apathy and ignorance that he proposed that every generation should discard the Constitution and write a new Constitution. He felt that if every generation of Americans did not craft a new constitution Americans would simply take the original Constitution for granted and, in turn, take American citizenship for granted.

Though I believe Jefferson's worst fears may have come to pass, let me emphasize there are a number of examples of remarkable success in American education. There are superb teachers, administrators and schools that make citizenship, and American History an important component of education, including several in this community. There have always been, and there will continue to be great teachers in our schools. Each of us can recall those teachers who made a difference in our lives. In fact, every responsible citizen in this country is a product of excellent teachers. However, despite these successes, both past and present, the signs of failure throughout the country are truly ominous. There is a serious and systemic failing to teach democracy at every level of American education from kindergarten through college. Here are some reports from that second war front:

1. In recent United States Department of Education assessments, only 9 percent of the U.S. high school students were able to cite two reasons why it is important for citizens to participate in a democracy, and only 6 percent could identify two reasons why having a constitution benefits a country.

2. Three years ago a survey of high school seniors revealed that most of them did not know the Battle of Gettysburg took place in the Civil War. Less than 10 percent knew that Bunker Hill took place in the American Revolution. Most thought it was fought during the Vietnam War. Most did not know the difference between the American Revolution and the Civil War. Some could only name the current President of the United States, and few knew the names of our nation's Founders. Essentially, the survey revealed that only a fraction of high school seniors had a grasp of the bare essentials of American history, government, and citizenship.

3. In the Spring of 1999,William Damon, Director of the Center on Adolescence and Professor of Education at Stanford University, conducted in-depth interviews of teenagers living in communities in the American heartland and reviewed essays of hundreds of other students about life in America. Here are some excerpts from that study:

What struck us was not only what these young people said but also what they did not say. They showed little interest in people outside the immediate circles of friends and relatives (other than fictional media characters and entertainment or sports figures); little awareness of current events; and virtually no expression of social concern, political opinion, civic duty, patriotic emotion, or a sense of citizenship in any form. ... For example, when asked what American citizenship meant to him, one student replied, "We just had that the other day in history. I forgot what it was." Another said, "I mean being American is not really special ... I don't find being an American citizen very important," and yet another said, "I don't know, I figure everybody is a citizen so it really shouldn't mean nothing." One student said directly: "I don't want to belong to any country. It just feels like you are obligated to this country. I don't like the whole thing of citizen ... I don't like that whole thing. It's like, citizen, no citizen, it doesn't make sense to me. It's like to be a good citizen, I don't know. I don't want to be a citizen ... It's stupid to me.

4. Last summer the California Department of Education released the list of 2,700 books that represent the recommended reading component of California public education which was reviewed in the Sacramento Bee. This list includes a biography of Gandhi but not of Thomas Jefferson or John Adams or James Madison or Alexander Hamilton. The only book on George Washington was a young child's out of print book "George Washington's Socks." The only book listed under the title of the American Revolution was the novel by Esther Forbes entitled "Johnny Tremain." There was no mention of Thomas Paine's "Common Sense"; no mention of "The Federalist Papers"; much less the Constitution or the Bill of Rights.

5. In yet another observation about the education of American high school students, Professor Wilfred McClay, Professor of Humanities at the University of Tennessee, writes:

Survey after dismal survey confirms that Americans are being poorly served by their educational institutions, at all levels. One-fifth of the American teenagers don't know the name of the country from which the United States declared independence. A fourth don't know who fought in the Civil War, and cannot say what happened in 1776.

6. I suppose in light of these statistics we shouldn't be surprised to find the following trend according to this analysis of federal voting patterns:

In the United States, eighteen-year-olds were given voting privileges before the 1972 presidential election, and 47 percent of young people in the eighteen to twenty-four-year age range voted that year. With the exception of an insignificant blip in 1992, voting rates in this age group declined consistently until the 1996 presidential election, when only 27 percent voted--barely one in four. Early analyses from the national election of 2000 suggest a further decline from even this insubstantial rate - and this was a hotly contested race.

This picture of America makes the words of Robert Maynard Hutchins seem prophetic: "The death of democracy is not likely to be an assassination or ambush. It will be a slow extinction from apathy, indifference and undernourishment."

Unfortunately, these examples of failure in American education appear to have extended beyond high school to our universities. Recent studies indicate that large numbers of graduates from American universities have little knowledge or understanding of the American Story. There is considerable evidence that many American universities simply find that history, much less American history, is non-essential to higher education.

7. A survey conducted by the Roper organization on behalf of the American Council of Trustees and Alumni was published in February 2000. The following is a summary of that survey: This 1999 survey of college seniors at 55 elite colleges, from Princeton to Stanford, revealed that only 22 percent knew that the words "government of the people, by the people and for the people" are from the Gettysburg Address. Forty percent could not place the Civil War in the second half of the Nineteenth Century. Only 44 percent could place Lincoln's presidency in the period 1860-1880. Fifty-nine percent thought Reconstruction was about repairing the physical damage done by the Civil War. Twenty-five percent thought the pilgrims signed the Magna Carta on the Mayflower. More than half thought Chief Justice John Marshall was the author of the Dred Scott decision (1857), or Brown v. Board of Education (1954), or Roe v. Wade (1973). Sixty-three percent did not know the Battle of the Bulge was in World War II. To the question of who commanded American forces at Yorktown, the most frequent answer was Ulysses S. Grant.

The study found that 81 percent of the seniors could not pass a simple test of American historical knowledge, which asked about such basic matters as the separation of powers and the events at Valley Forge. Not one of the colleges required the students to take a course in American history. A student could graduate from 78 percent of those colleges without taking any history course. (Professor McClay upon reviewing this survey noted in an article in the Wilson Quarterly, "On the bright side, 99 percent of the students surveyed were able to identify the cartoon characters Beavis and Butthead. So they are learning something.")

The results of these surveys are shocking. How did this happen? How could so many of our best and brightest at every level became so ignorant about American historical events that virtually every school child knew 40 years ago? The answer is not an easy one. While I have my views, they are unimportant to the present discussion. What is important is that we understand a fundamental alienation of American History and values which has taken place in education at all levels. And, as result, many American students are not simply ignorant of America, they view the study of its history and values as arcane and irrelevant to their lives.

If this attitude ultimately prevails, I submit, America will not be able to function as a free society, nor provide crucial leadership in a world political environment that is increasingly diverse, unstable and hostile to the ideal of human freedom. While I certainly concur that nationalism can be a barrier to a rational understanding of the world, ignorance of America, and its values, could be fatal to the realization of a world based on human dignity, equality and justice. But the American Story is not about nationalism. It's not about some jingoistic drumbeat of superiority. It's about the knowledge of, and the commitment to the highest human values and ideals. It's about the love of a nation which holds that every human being has an inalienable right to dignity, to life, to liberty, and to equal justice. The idea of America penned by Thomas Jefferson became a political reality before we became a nation. And because the idea of freedom, equality and justice was first realized in America, we became the first nation of diversity, the nation of immigrants. For those who freely chose America, the issue has never been what nation is more worthy or more powerful, but whose ideas are more deserving and more compelling.

Listen to the words of John Adams when he wrote to Hezekiah Niles in 1818: "But what do we mean by the American Revolution? Do we mean the American war? The Revolution was effected before the war commenced. The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people; a change in their religious sentiments, of their duties and obligations .... This radical change in the principles, opinions, sentiments, and affections of the people was the real American Revolution."

The idea of America since its birth has become larger and more inclusive because heroic men and women understood the meaning of the American Revolution. And so too we must understand that Revolution continues to this day in a world largely hostile to its ideals.

It is therefore imperative that we understand who we are and why we are free. If not, how can we offer the promise of freedom to others, including our own children? Again, as Justice Anthony Kennedy told a group of McClatchy High School seniors here in Sacramento several weeks ago: "Democracy must be taught. It must be transmitted by us." The American legacy is handed down from one generation to the next. We are but stewards of that legacy. That was the whole idea of the Framers. That is the whole idea of America.

As generations before were trustees of freedom, so too, we are trustees, and so should our children be. However, if we are to bestow the legacy of America upon our children, we must reverse this downward spiraling trend of ignorance and apathy among ourselves and our young. We must teach Democracy. We must take hold of our own citizenship responsibilities. There must be a sense of urgency about us. There must be a clear and unmistakable call for leadership on this issue in every community, school district, and university. This effort needs support from the highest levels of the federal and state governments to local school boards, administrators and teachers and lawyers and judges.

I ask you to join with me and one another in a common cause, as public citizens, to teach our children what it means to be an American.

Now comes the hard part. How do we translate our willingness to serve into a plan of action? When our ad hoc committee initiated this effort we decided to meet with teachers, administrators and school board members to understand their viewpoints. We will soon be meeting with students and teachers at local high schools. All this in an effort to find out what programs will work. It should be the bar's purpose to continue to learn what schools need and how the bar can work with teachers and administrators to improve civic education in our community. It is my hope the work of the ad hoc committee will soon be completed and we can provide information and recommendations to the leaders of the bar. In turn, I hope the bar will organize, perhaps through the Bar Council, a representative steering committee which will include state and federal judges. The steering committee should coordinate and deploy individuals, groups and resources in support of civic education activities. I, however, would like to offer some suggestions, should the bar decide to take action:

1. We should first conduct an inventory of available programs and activities. The following is only a partial list.

• Dialogue on Freedom (ABA)
• Open Doors of Justice (Federal Courts)
• Playing By the Rules (Justice Nicholson's Program)
• Center for Youth Citizenship (Directed by Joe Maloney with assistance from County Office of Education)
• Individual School Districts' programs, such as:
• Sacramento High School (Law and Government Academy)
• San Juan School District (Civitos)
• Kennedy High School (Core American Studies Program-PACE)

*National Programs that have a presence in Sacramento, include the following:

• Center For Civic Education (local attorney, Tac Craven, President of Board)
• Constitutional Rights Foundation (Sponsors California Moot Court Program)
• Close Up Foundation (Sponsors students and teachers' week-long study in Washington, D.C.)

2. Possible programs that could be developed by the bar in cooperation with the schools.

• Dialogue on Freedom Team Teaching (Judge and 1 or 2 lawyers)
• Regional Citizenship Bee sponsored by the bar
• Essay contest for "Young Patriots" for elementary schools
• Providing an American History video library for school districts (e.g., Ken Burns' PBS Series The Civil War or Thomas Jefferson or the TNT production of Gettysburg based on Jeff Shaara's Killer Angels.)
• Academic scholarships for students who excel in American History and Government

3. Other civic education activities the bar may wish to consider.

• Sponsor statewide initiative to require Citizenship Exit Exam for all high school seniors.
• Organize speaker's Bureau on American Values and the Constitution for community organizations
• Solicit area law schools to assist in teaching government and Constitutional law
• Seek special MCLE credits for the above activities
• Petition the ABA to re-focus Law Day activities on the schools. Honor students and teachers who excel in American History and Government programs and who distinguish themselves as citizens.

I recognize impacting public education is a towering challenge. I was reminded of that challenge several months ago during a meeting when someone turned to me and said, "Frank, this job is too big for us. I just don't think we can change the way children are taught." I half agreed with him. I didn't know what to say but I felt I had to say something. So I blurted out "Oh, yes we can!" Nothing further was said on the subject and the meeting continued and so have our efforts. I suppose the lesson to be learned is that, yes, there are challenges. But they are not insurmountable, just inevitable.

Let me conclude by returning to my starting point, 9/11. Perhaps a historical perspective will give us all some encouragement.

In April 1775 Colonial militiamen were killed in the battles of Lexington and Concord: 10 militiamen on the Lexington Common and 49 militiamen at Concord. They did not die in vain. These first battles of the American Revolution led to the founding of the greatest democracy in the history of the world, The United States of America.

Eighty-six years later on April 12, 1861, the bombardment of Fort Sumter commenced and, with it, the Civil War began. Within weeks several thousand Americans would be killed. They did not die in vain. The Civil War would end the inhumanity of slavery and sow the seeds of the ultimate guarantee of civil rights to all American citizens regardless of race or gender.

Eighty years later on December 7, 1941, over 2,000 Americans were killed in the attack on Pearl Harbor. They did not die in vain. The entry of America into World War II secured victory over totalitarianism which had enslaved half the world.

Sixty years later on September 11, 2001, more than 2,000 Americans were killed in New York City, Washington D.C. and in skies over Pennsylvania by terrorist attacks. They did not die in vain. There will be an ultimate victory over terrorists who seek to destroy America. There will, however, be a more lasting and important victory for our children. For, because of 9/11, we will rediscover America, our country and our legacy as citizens.

Let us begin.