duty-bound

Bonta said such shifting strategies were the work of a “consistently and brazenly lawless and lawbreaking federal administration,” and that his office was “duty-bound” to fight back and will — as many times as it takes.

That distance recurs often when he becomes a character in the story — almost as if he feels duty-bound to report his actions, but is unwilling to offer insight about himself.

To Williams, it hinted at a more menacing scenario — at secret ties between those who threaten the rule of the law and those duty-bound to enforce it.

It is enshrined in South Korea’s constitution, which states that the president is duty-bound to work toward peaceful reunification.

“I am therefore duty-bound to reject your recusal request,” he wrote.