A politician running for reelection had gone on the attack against the closest challenger, pointing out that before he became a politician, he was a criminal defense lawyer. The advertisements decry that this challenger has a liberal agenda and is somehow undermining the values of law and order. In the same breath, this politician claims to love the Constitution. The attacks made by the politician’s staff are even far worse, claiming that this challenger, having been a criminal defense attorney, is somehow an anarchist and is in league with the protesters in Portland, Oregon.
I consider myself to be relatively conservative, and I love the law. For 27 years of my career, among the many types of cases I handle, representing people charged with a crime is one of them. Over the years, I have heard the insinuations that criminal defense lawyers condone the criminal behavior of their clients. Nothing could be further from the truth. The job of the criminal defense lawyer is to ensure that the principles of fair play and justice apply to everyone and not just the wealthy or privileged.
Throughout my career, I have had the honor of working alongside many criminal defense lawyers. They are hard-working men and women, come from excellent moral backgrounds and upright values. They raise their families and send their children to schools in the communities that they practice law. What defines these hard-working lawyers is their commitment to justice even though the work they do may not be conducive to a conversation at a cocktail party or a school luncheon. Criminal defense lawyers endure the question during their careers, “How can you represent someone you know is guilty?”
Living in the South, the image that comes to mind is the quintessential criminal defense lawyer is that of Atticus Finch, the fictional lawyer from Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. Finch is appointed to represent Tom Robinson, a black mand who charged with rape of a white woman in the Jim Crowe South. Finch, a pillar in his community, soon became an unpopular target. Despite the risks to his family, he stood up to the corrupt system and vigorously defended Tom.
The founding fathers recognized when they freed this county from British tyranny and established a new republic that government could be a potent force, and those caught up in machinery can get chewed up and spit out without any regard to their liberties or freedoms. That is why their first act after establishing the Constitution was to create a Bill of Rights. It affords everyone who gets caught in the sights of the government certain rights to make sure the machinery does not just roll over them.
Those rights include the protection from unlawful searches, a prohibition from excessive bail, the right to due process of law, trial by jury, and, most importantly, the right to the practical assistance of counsel who knows how these rights and due process work. Most of the time, the government does get it right. The Bill of Rights stands for the proposition that everyone gets a fair shake in the criminal justice system, no matter how unpopular they are or despicable acts they have done. It makes sure the government’s power gets applied evenly and fairly.
However, sometimes the government does not get it right. If criminal defense lawyers did not make sure that the system worked somewhat for the guilty, there is no way to make sure that it works for the innocent.
CantonLawyer 