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Money-Grubbing Lawyers

February 7, 2012 By Rick Leave a Comment

First thing this morning, my blog received a visit from some unnamed individual who bravely took me to task for “not caring” about doing my job. The basis of the pseudonymous complaint was the thought that instead of “moaning and whining” on my blog, I should “get off [my] butt and away from [my] keyboard and get involved and get it fixed.” The publicity-shy soul further indicated that lawyers like me don’t really care about anyone’s liberty and rights unless it impacts — as in “improves, or at least does not harm” I guess — our wallets.

Clearly, the unnamed individual does not know me, or anything about me. Or most other criminal defense attorneys, for that matter.

Call Somebody Who Cares

February 7, 2012 By Rick 5 Comments

When I was in high school, a common taunt when anyone complained about something was, “Here’s a dime: call somebody who cares.”

Thing is, in the 1970s, if you wanted to actually follow that advice, it wasn’t much of a problem. You simply offered to accept the dime — later a quarter — found a phone booth, and dialed the number you’d memorized for those who might actually care.

As Stephen Petrick recently learned, it doesn’t quite work that way anymore.

The Judicial Reality Show

January 29, 2012 By Rick Leave a Comment

A friend — a civil law attorney — contacted me the other day to tell me that she was referring someone over. A more-than-worthy cause, if it checked out, she said. If and when she reads this post, I suspect she’s not going to like it (which is why I’m not going to identify her, or provide any identifying information on the case), but I hope she will not dislike it.

I don’t know what the world of civil law is like: so far, I practice only criminal defense. I have resisted repeated encouragement — you could even class some of the encouragement as entreaties – to give in and practice some form of civil law, because I think if you want to be expert at something, you have to focus on doing that thing. Thus, I have been fairly fanatical about the defense of adults and juveniles accused of having committed crimes. I read enough civil law to ensure that I’m not missing something which would make me a better criminal defense lawyer, but I have no wish to practice it.¹

What I do know is that the world of criminal defense does not — neither in my own experience nor in stories I hear from other criminal defense lawyers — function as my friend believes it does.

The world of criminal law has much to do with criminals — both those enrobed and those accused — and not so much to do with law.

[Read more...]

Endnotes:

Maybe this will change one day. It’s becoming harder and harder to make a living in this economy based on doing only criminal defense. Potential clients have less money and, unlike the world of civil law, they have the option of going with a public defender. [↩]

Filed Under: Juvenile Justice, Rule of Law Tagged With: fitness hearings, judges, Juvenile Justice, juvenile justice system, juveniles and the law, medical marijuana, Rule of Law

SOPA (Temporarily?) Washes Out Blogs

January 17, 2012 By Rick Leave a Comment

This is a criminal defense law blog. For a criminal defense law office. As a criminal defense lawyer, I usually write about things that are of interest to those looking for criminal defense attorneys, or for other criminal defense attorneys, or just people who are interested in criminal defense.

But what someone has — or, rather, a few very rich someones have — been trying to do is a crime.

So today, I’m writing about SOPA/PIPA. Sounds like some kind of disease, doesn’t it? Soh’-pah pih’-pah. Maybe a virus.

And it is, actually. It’s the most powerful Internet virus yet.

Out of Sight

January 12, 2012 By Rick Leave a Comment

The last couple of days, I’ve been pondering something Jeff Gamso wrote, at least partly as a response to a comment I made on his blog. As with a lot of Jeff’s stuff, it’s taking me longer to consider than most things I read. I like that. I like that Jeff makes me think. Too many people in the world don’t seem to spend enough time thinking, or helping others think, these days.

Take these two cops, for instance.

The Importance of History for Freedom

January 9, 2012 By Rick 1 Comment

Like so many of my posts — I think this is why I sometimes have difficulty settling on what to write — this one is the culmination of an inchoate irritation that’s been growing in me for a long time. But, again like so many of my posts, it is finally birthed because of something specific that causes me to think my thoughts are finally falling into place well enough to begin writing.

Let’s see if that helps me give form to my thoughts in a way that you, dear readers, might begin to develop a similar, hopefully less-inchoate, irritation on the issue. Perhaps we can even arrive at a place at least more solid and substantial than President Obama’s backbone.

Public Pretenders

January 5, 2012 By Rick 2 Comments

At the risk of talking myself out of a job or two, let’s clear something up immediately: Even though it doesn’t apply to me (because as long as I’ve practiced law, I’ve always been a private attorney), I hate the phrase “Public Pretender.”

I hate that people use it; I hate to hear it. It’s pointless, usually slanderous, and in almost all cases — except perhaps in Kings County, California, where it is said contract attorneys will lose their contracts if they upset the ~~prosecutors in their black robes~~ judges – unwarranted.

I’ve never been a public defender. But when people ask, “Are you an attorney, or a public pretender?” my reaction is “a what?! what’s that?” I know exactly what they mean, of course, but I ask it in a tone that (I hope) communicates that I’m wondering if it’s some street performer, maybe a homeless actor or comedian.

And that I’m quite amused that there’s a name for such persons.

The Pain of Knowing

January 5, 2012 By Rick 1 Comment

Last night, after a conversation with another attorney about politics, the direction the country is taking, and how the attitudes developing drive law enforcement and the distortions we see in the criminal “justice” system, I published a blog post.

Don’t look for it: I’ve de-published it.

The post was a wonderfully fulfilling piece of venting.

I woke several times in the night, however, thinking about it and considering that it might not be what I wanted for my blog.

What I want for my blog is to use it to explain and to show that what is happening in the world of criminal “justice” is not at all what you — and I’m hoping by “you” that I’m targeting ordinary people; not just attorneys; not just the choir — really want.

Godwin’s Constitution

January 2, 2012 By Rick 5 Comments

The latest blog posting of a man — a criminal defense lawyer — whose opinions I very much respect, ~~even if the feeling does not appear to be mutual, and~~ (Scott says this isn’t true, so I’m crossing it out) even though I sometimes disagree with his opinions, inspires today’s blog post here. He appears to draw a connection between complaints “addressing any aspect of our fragile criminal justice system” that lead to some statement that “we live in a police state, our elected officials are tyrants and the Constitution is dead” and what he calls another corollary — Corollary 92 — of Godwin’s Law.

As with his statement that “it’s wrong,” I can find no support for calling it Corollary 92, but at least the latter claim is funny.

The former — plus the claim that it is “unhelpful” to make such statements — is not only unconvincing because similarly unsupported, but demonstrates why the mere statement of Godwin’s Law itself should not be considered the talisman it has become for discounting those with whom we disagree.

Since I am one of those who frequently claims that the Constitution is dead and since I think the position stated above is the one which is unhelpful, and even harmful, it is only fair that I respond.

Massachusetts Resurrects Star Chamber

December 31, 2011 By Rick 5 Comments

Let me apologize in advance for not doing some fancy-schmancy end-of-the-year post. It’s not that I’m not grateful to see 2011 starting to move into the rearview mirror. It’s more that I’m not wanting to waste another minute on it. If anything, 2011 seems to me to be the year the world’s police officer, the United States, finally turned itself — like too many other police officers these days — full-face towards corruption and fascism.

The fact that they aren’t crushing everyone (after all, I’m writing this, right?) yet, doesn’t really mean much. As Scott Greenfield put it in a slightly different context, “The laws are already in place, and continuing to be developed….”

Money-Grubbing Lawyers

Call Somebody Who Cares

The Judicial Reality Show

SOPA (Temporarily?) Washes Out Blogs

Out of Sight

The Importance of History for Freedom

Public Pretenders

The Pain of Knowing

Godwin’s Constitution

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