Ethics/Professional Responsibility
Jun. 20, 2025
St. Thomas More: A good or bad role model for lawyers and judges?
St. Thomas More, long celebrated as a martyr of conscience and hero of faith, was also a zealous persecutor who used state power to torture and execute religious dissenters, leaving behind a legacy as complex and troubling as it is revered.
Dan Lawton
Partner
Klinedinst PC in San Diego
501 W Broadway #1100
San Diego , CA 92101
Phone: (619) 400-8000
Email: dlawton@klinedinstlaw.com
Georgetown Univ Law Center
The views expressed here are his own.
St. Thomas More was a British lawyer who served the king. The British crown executed him for treason in 1535, making him a martyr who willingly suffered execution for a personal belief system which put him at odds with the crown. Today, More is many things. Among them, he is the hero of "A Man for All Seasons," the prizewinning play and film. He is also the namesake of the Thomas More Society, to whose chapters thousands of Catholic lawyers and judg...
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