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CriminalDefense 5 - 21 Apr 2010 - Main.DavidGoldin
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| | Eben has spoken very highly of criminal defense several times in class. I am one of those people who still doesn’t know what kind of law he wants to practice, but criminal law is definitely one of the possibilities. I find it interesting, at least academically/abstractly, and I think I would enjoy being the guy in someone’s corner.
The problem is, as much as I would love to be the person defending the wrongfully accused, I think I would be uncomfortable defending someone I believed had committed the crime. This would be more or less true depending on the circumstances, but for some crimes in particular (gratuitously violent crimes, sexual crimes against women and children, white collar crime/public integrity/fraud), I think I would have a real problem. | | | PS - To address your point, Alison, I think I'd argue that the problem isn't so much one of prosecuting an innocent man/defending a guilty one (ie a problem of somehow taking the "wrong" side) but one of making sure everyone has an equal chance to be represented well. I'm not sure if I can articulate this distinction particularly well, but I think to look at it from a neutral basis, it's a matter of providing advocacy to everyone, and not about making sure the outcomes are "correct" or morally accurate from some subjective baseline.
-- JessicaHallett - 20 Apr 2010 | |
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> | @Jessica - I'd like to echo your assertion that representing people whose actions we may condemn is not a moral dilemma. As I stated above, everyone deserves vigorous representation. I think that the real concern regarding moral dilemmas in criminal law is when lawyers are pressured to engage in unethical tactics in criminal cases. All too often, this happens in large organizations (be it on the prosecution side or the defense side). And all too often, we read about this in the newspaper. People who go it solo or work with a trusted partner or two don't face as much pressure to break the rules. There is a clear line between representing one's client vigorously (ensuring that her constitutional rights are protected and that she gets the representation she is entitled to) and representing one's client unethically (breaking rules to get the best possible outcome). If one stays on the correct side of the line, he is defending the people - regardless of which side he is on.
-- DavidGoldin - 20 Apr 2010 |
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