Why are you here? April 8, 2008
Posted by Idta in : Criminal Law, MyBooks, Quotes , 2comments
One of my co-workers asked me today, “Why are you here?” I told him I want to be a better criminal-defense lawyer.
Tonight I finished reading The Best Defense,
The public sometimes has difficulty distinguishing between the noble [defense attorneys] and the sleazy; the very fact that a defense lawyer represents a guilty client leads some to conclude that the lawyer must be sleazy. Being so regarded is an occupational hazard of all zealous defense attorneys.
The late Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter once commented that he knew of no title “more honorable than that of Professor of the Harvard Law School.” I know of none more honorable than defense attorney.
Snake handlers are not afraid of snakes February 17, 2008
Posted by Idta in : Quotes , 1 comment so farI came across this pithy quote in a business article, but am surprised I haven’t heard it in a criminal context. In the right case, either the government or the defense could use it to describe the opponent’s witnesses (e.g., paid informants or shady alibi witnesses).
Uranium-Rich Farm Worth $10 Billion
“Snake handlers are not afraid of snakes.”
The “Good Guys”? Yes, but consider the source. November 23, 2007
Posted by Idta in : Criminal Law, Quotes , add a comment When we went deep into the solitary-confinement area of prison this week, many inmates stared at us and called out questions or comments. They don’t have many visitors back there.
My investigator told the first inmate who asked that we were from the state agency that handles inmate defense. (He does that in hopes that it will make the inmates less likely to throw crap at us.)
That inmate immediately announced to all of the others, “It’s the GOOD GUYS!”
One of them asked me, “Are you conducting an audit or something?” I told him the truth, that we were there investigating a case. He said, “That’s the kind of lawyer I want!”
It was pretty good being called “the good guys” for once, but this IS the section where the prison claims to house the craziest inmates.
It’s worse not to know. August 4, 2007
Posted by Idta in : MyBooks, Quotes , add a comment I finished reading Mark Haddon’s novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time today.
The last sentence of this quote from the book describes how I feel about my upcoming trial:
“[I]t’s best if you know a good thing is going to happen, like an eclipse or getting a microscope for Christmas. And it’s bad if you know a bad thing is going to happen, like having a filling or going to France. But I think it is worst if you don’t know whether it is a good thing or a bad thing which is going to happen.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, at 215 (emphasis added).
P.S. The main character in the book visits a train station in London and sees a sign that made me smile: “Take time out to regret your career choice.”
African proverb July 7, 2007
Posted by Idta in : Quotes , add a commentFrom Libraries in the sand reveal Africa’s academic past
“The nations formed a single line and Timbuktu was at the head. But one day, God did an about-turn and Timbuktu found itself at the back,” a local proverb goes.
P.S. For most of my life, I thought my dad had traveled to Timbuktu by camel. Nope. No camel.
The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph July 4, 2007
Posted by Idta in : Constitution, Quotes , add a commentDavid Van Os describes today’s summer soldiers and sunshine patriots:
To quote one of the great pamphleteers (of whom today’s bloggers are the successors) of the Revolution, Thomas Paine,
“These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it NOW, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph” COMMON SENSE, December 23, 1776.
Who are today’s summer soldiers and sunshine patriots? They are the representatives of tyranny who claim the power of the Constitution and the protection of the law while trampling on the very Constitution and rule of law which give them the power and protection they claim; they are the acolytes who proclaim a love of freedom while suppressing dissent; they are the royalists who mouth support for democracy while establishing aristocracy in their own country[.]
Substituting one good quote for another June 28, 2007
Posted by Idta in : Quotes , 2comments I wanted to quote something funny a client said this afternoon, but that’s out of the question. Instead, I’ll quote Defending Those People discussing (on March 6, 2007) clients who don’t want to go to trial OR take a plea:
“Do I look like I have magic beans?”
Answering the age-old question … with a question. June 26, 2007
Posted by Idta in : Quotes , add a comment I’ve only been at this a short while, and already I’ve lost count of how many times friends and acquaintances have asked me, “But what if you know they’re guilty? How can you defend them?”
Seen on Defending Those People:
“The question for the Christian lawyer is not, ‘How can you work to get a guilty person off?’ The real question is, ‘Will you stand by this person, this flawed and sinful human being, and speak a word on his behalf?‘ ”
U.S. Constitution 101 June 11, 2007
Posted by Idta in : Constitution, Quotes , add a commentTop News - Court Rules in Favor of Enemy Combatant - AOL News
“Put simply, the Constitution does not allow the President to order the military to seize civilians residing within the United States and then detain them indefinitely without criminal process, and this is so even if he calls them ‘enemy combatants,’ ” the court said.
You’d think that would have been obvious from the get-go.
The Power of Hope April 30, 2007
Posted by Idta in : Quotes , add a comment Some of my clients have given up hope of ever getting out of prison. Others seem almost certain they will win their case, even when the odds are very much stacked against them.
There’s a comment in an article called “The Power of Hope” (Advocate, April 10, 2007) that seems applicable to some of my clients facing criminal charges (although the man quoted in the article is referring to people with HIV, not criminal defendants):
“Optimism and hope are often used interchangeably, but they’re different. Hope is clear-eyed. It looks at all of the obstacles, pitfalls, and potential problems in a realistic way. And through all that it sees a possible path to a better future. It’s the opposite of passive.” - Dr. Jerome Groopman
