Oregon Women Lawyers (OWLS) stands with our national, state, and local bar associations, as well as various other affinity bar groups, who have voiced condemnation of the violent attack on our United States Capitol Building this past Wednesday, January 6, 2021. What was to be a historic day, the Congressional certification of the election of Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. to be our next President, and Senator Kamala Harris, to be our next, and first ever woman, Black and South Asian American Vice President, ended in a violent display of aggression and insurrection. The insurrection sought to disrupt the constitutional proceedings of the peaceful transition of power under our democratic system and it was an unprecedented attack on our democracy. Racism, hatred, and those who would use misinformation and incite it for their own political ends must never be tolerated, especially at the highest levels of our government. As attorneys, we have sworn an oath to support the Constitution and the laws of the United States. To that end, OWLS calls upon our state and federal elected leaders to strongly denounce the violence which occurred this past Wednesday, to condemn and prosecute all those who sought to engage in and provoke such acts, and to provide for a peaceful transition of power.
