Reno Urges Legal 'Accessibility'

U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno urged the Law School graduating class to "develop new, innovative and bold proposals to make the law accessible to the people," at Class Day ceremonies at Sanders Theatre yesterday.

Reno, a 1963 graduate of the Law School, spoke amidst heavy security to an audience of more than 1,200 on a day when the Law School seemed to forget the divisions that have plagued its recent past.

About 20 protesters from the Spartacus Youth Club, a Marxist group, chanted "Clinton and Reno, you have lied--Waco was murder, not suicide" outside Sanders. But the protesters were largely ignored by the crowd, who seemed in a generally festive mood.

And one of the major reasons for the festivities--other than graduation--seemed to be the presentation of the Sacks-Freund Award for Teaching Excellence to Assistant Professor of Law Charles J. Ogletree Jr.

Ogletree mentioned that he was accepting the award with trepidation, since he will be joining the faculty of Stanford Law School next fall. But as both the crowd, and Law School Dean Robert C. Clark, reacted with horror, Ogletree reassured the audience that he was joking.

Clark, in a speech following the award, officially announced that Ogletree will be offered tenure on the Harvard faculty. The Law School faculty voted unanimously to give Ogletree a lifetime post late last month, and the Corporation and President Neil L. Rudenstine have now approved the offer.

During her speech, Reno, who was one of only 16 women in her Law School class, said she had "never felt so lost" as when she first came to Harvard.

"'Contracts' and 'Torts' were confusing," she said. "'Criminal Law' was boring. As I left, I wondered what the future was to bring."

But Reno said she has found the law an incredibly rewarding occupation--one she characterized as "a protection against an oppressive government."

But she said it is easy to recognize that problems exist in our legal framework in its present form. Not all people have access to legal recourse in our society, she said.

"What we have done is create a marvelous system of laws, but to some people the law isn't worth the paper it's written on," Reno said. "The law has tied people up, rather than freed them.

"All you need to do is walk the streets of America and see the homeless to see that lawyers need to galvanize together," she said.

Drawing on her own experience in Dade County, Fla., Reno urged the graduating class to go into communities to develop innovative approaches to solving problems--ones that involve personal interaction.

"For lawyers, the time has come to return the law to the people, and the people to the law," she said.

Before Reno's address, Clark sent a message to student activists who have agitated for greater diversity on the faculty by contrasting the class of 1993 to Reno's class of 1963. "Today, there are 205 women graduating," he said. "I am committed to seeing this number grow--and the number of women on the faculty."

Tongue planted firmly in cheek, Clark welcomed Reno back to the Law School with "some trepidation" since he said Reno had "stolen" Ames Professor of Law Philip B. Heymann to be her solicitor general. And Clark said he had earlier seen Reno conferring in private with Ogletree.

But Reno shot back in her own speech. "I'm not a thief," she said. "There's been no permanent deprivation."CrimsonTie A. ChapmanJANET C. RENO

"'Contracts' and 'Torts' were confusing," she said. "'Criminal Law' was boring. As I left, I wondered what the future was to bring."

But Reno said she has found the law an incredibly rewarding occupation--one she characterized as "a protection against an oppressive government."

But she said it is easy to recognize that problems exist in our legal framework in its present form. Not all people have access to legal recourse in our society, she said.

"What we have done is create a marvelous system of laws, but to some people the law isn't worth the paper it's written on," Reno said. "The law has tied people up, rather than freed them.

"All you need to do is walk the streets of America and see the homeless to see that lawyers need to galvanize together," she said.

Drawing on her own experience in Dade County, Fla., Reno urged the graduating class to go into communities to develop innovative approaches to solving problems--ones that involve personal interaction.

"For lawyers, the time has come to return the law to the people, and the people to the law," she said.

Before Reno's address, Clark sent a message to student activists who have agitated for greater diversity on the faculty by contrasting the class of 1993 to Reno's class of 1963. "Today, there are 205 women graduating," he said. "I am committed to seeing this number grow--and the number of women on the faculty."

Tongue planted firmly in cheek, Clark welcomed Reno back to the Law School with "some trepidation" since he said Reno had "stolen" Ames Professor of Law Philip B. Heymann to be her solicitor general. And Clark said he had earlier seen Reno conferring in private with Ogletree.

But Reno shot back in her own speech. "I'm not a thief," she said. "There's been no permanent deprivation."CrimsonTie A. ChapmanJANET C. RENO