Stances require democracy

Sometimes lawyers have to argue in favor of issues they are opposed to. For example, a lawyer dedicated to First Amendment rights may defend a pornographer on constitutional grounds, although he’s opposed to the proliferation of smut. Or a criminal defense lawyer may feel icky defending a child molester but will still vigorously defend his client because he believes in our system of “innocent until proven guilty.”

And sometimes a lawyer has to defend a county board’s right to declare their county a gun sanctuary even though he’s opposed to the idea.

The Duluth City Council recently considered...