Would you defend a dictator from mistrial to protect his human rights? What about taking a stand against your political allies to defend the American justice system from politicization?

These were just some of the topics brought up at the University of Georgia School of Law's Tenth Annual Legal Ethics & Professionalism Symposium. This year's symposium, entitled "Drawing the Ethical Line: Controversial Cases, Zealous Advocacy, and the Public Good," took place Friday at the Law School's Hirsch Hall.

"I teach a course on legal ethics and I tend to spend a lot of time in my class talking about these issues. The symposium is supposed to focus on legal ethics and professionalism, so I just picked this particular theme for this program," Lonnie Brown, the symposium's organizer and a professor in the University's School of Law, said.

I believe the sad saga of the U.S. attorney firings represents some of the most base motives. David C. Iglesias, former U.S. attorney for the District of New Mexico

Brown said the law symposium is a collaborative effort between the law schools of Mercer University, Emory University, Georgia State University and the University of Georgia. He said the four schools rotate hosting the symposium.

This year the symposium featured keynote speeches from former U.S. Attorney General W. Ramsey Clark and former U.S. Attorney for the District of New Mexico David C. Iglesias.

Ramsey, who served as attorney general under President Lyndon Johnson, has been involved in several controversial cases throughout his career. Most notably, he played a key role in the passage of several civil rights legislations and served on a panel to defend Saddam Hussein before the Iraqi High Tribunal.

Iglesias served as U.S. Attorney under the Bush administration and was one of the U.S. attorneys dismissed during the Justice Department controversy, which eventually led to the resignation of Alberto Gonzales.

"The trial was a complete fraud," Ramsey said during his speech.

According to Ramsey, during the trial of Hussein, the judge was changed three times with the final judge being a Kurd who lost family and relatives during Hussein's suppression of the Kurds in 1991.

Iglesias has also been involved in several highly publicized cases, including the case which served as the inspiration for the film "A Few Good Men". Iglesias said he was appointed U.S. Attorney for the district of New Mexico exactly eight years ago on Friday. He said during his term, his office was the fourth most productive office in the U.S.

Iglesias said on Dec. 7, 2006, a day he called "Pearl Harbor Day," he was dismissed along with six of his colleagues.

What I'd like is a public apology. I think my colleagues would also like one. There should be no question that we were removed for improper reasons. David C. Iglesias

"I believe the sad saga of the U.S. attorney firings represents some of the most base motives," Iglesias said. He said he was dismissed for not prosecuting voter-fraud cases against Democrats, which he believed had no basis.

Iglesias said he believes U.S. attorneys carry tremendous power and responsibilities and should remain free from politicization.

Eventually, six of the U.S. attorneys testified before the House and Senate judiciary committees about their dismissals. The controversy led to the resignation of Attorney General Gonzales.

"What I'd like is a public apology. I think my colleagues would also like one. There should be no question that we were removed for improper reasons," Iglesias said.

"I don't think this administration or future administrations will ever go down this path again," he said. "[The Bush administration] obtained their short-term goal, which was to get us out, but it came at a very high cost."

Editor's Note: This story was originally published in the Red and Black by Diana Perez on Oct. 19, 2009. Click here to view the original story.  Published through the agreement of the Intercollegiate Online News Network.