What Does Loyalty Mean?

Donna Tryfman's View on What Loyalty Really Means

Loyalty is a word we use often, but I have been thinking a lot about what it really means.

Is loyalty standing by someone no matter what they do? Is it supporting a friend, colleague, organization, or political party even when you disagree with them?

I don't think so.

After decades as a public defender, I have learned that real loyalty isn't blind allegiance. It is loyalty to principle.

My career has taught me that sometimes the most loyal thing you can do is tell someone the truth—even when it is difficult to hear. Sometimes loyalty means standing beside someone when others have already written them off. And sometimes it means having the courage to say, "I disagree," while still treating that person with dignity and respect.

As a public defender, my loyalty has never been to winning at any cost. It has been to the Constitution, to due process, to fairness, and to the fundamental belief that every person deserves to be heard.

That commitment has shaped who I am. It is also why I am running for judge.

A judge cannot be loyal to one side. A judge cannot be loyal to a prosecutor because they are a prosecutor, or to a defense attorney because they are a defense attorney. A judge cannot be loyal to a political party, a particular constituency, or the person sitting in front of them.

A judge's loyalty must be to the law and the Constitution.

That is a very different kind of loyalty.

It means being willing to make a decision that may disappoint people you respect. It means listening carefully even when you think you already know the answer. It means treating the person with power and the person without power by the same standard.

It means remembering that the courtroom is not a place where popularity should determine justice.

Throughout my career, I have represented people whom others had already decided were unworthy of compassion. I have sat with families during some of the worst moments of their lives. I have made difficult decisions, including decisions where there was no perfect answer.

Those experiences have taught me that justice requires both strength and humanity.

I also believe loyalty matters in our communities. We should be loyal to the people who have invested in us. We should remember the mentors who opened doors, the colleagues who stood beside us, and the communities that helped us become who we are. But loyalty should never require us to abandon our principles.

I have tried throughout my career to build relationships across differences—to listen to people with whom I disagree, to find common ground when possible, and to disagree respectfully when common ground isn't possible. That is the kind of judge I intend to be.

I won't promise to rule for a particular side. I won't promise a particular outcome. And I won't believe that being a judge means being the most powerful person in the courtroom.

Instead, I will bring the same commitment I have brought to my career: respect every person, listen carefully, follow the law, and have the courage to do what I believe is right.

My loyalty is not to a faction.

It is not to a political label.

It is not to whoever happens to be standing in front of me.

My loyalty is to justice.

And ultimately, that is the promise I believe every judge should make.

The Constitution applies to everyone. The law belongs to everyone. And justice should be for everyone.