No offense, but defense lawyers are essential
The criminal justice system is where society and individual meet as adversaries. To function as it was designed, it is ideally a system in balance. Balance cannot be had, its aim of justice not preserved, without zealous assertion of all the rights, for both sides, which the Constitution guarantees.
Without such balance, citizens must accede to the authoritative word of government, unchecked, untested and whether government's representatives are pure or corrupt of ethic. Our founders knew better than to put such blind faith in government, as power is too apt to corrupt. Human beings are fallible. So the system governing them must take that into account. The Constitution's framers knew trusting government could not create a trustworthy government, and that not trusting would elicit more trustworthy public servants.
A very wise sense of irony they possessed.
Each piece of the criminal justice system is essential. A well-trained police force to respond to crimes and protect the innocent by ferreting out the guilty. Prosecutors to see justice is applied on behalf of victims. Judges to apply the law fairly, based on the evidence presented and, along with juries, to mete punishment when, hopefully, it is deserved.
Together those comprise one side. If they alone painted the picture, one side of justice's scale would fall to the floor with a bang. What of the accused? Once upon a time, and even now in some places, accusation and suspicion could be enough to damn anyone. Corruption reigned unchecked by law and balance, and merely a few bad apples with far too much authority made trusting that authority foolish, let alone risky. That makes freedom precarious even for the most ethical citizens.
Even today in this nation, with constitutional protections and a team of law enforcement, prosecutors and judges who generally serve well and earn public trust, mistakes happen. People are fallible. Evidence is limited and doesn't always tell a full story, as rarely are eyewitnesses present at every step and even then, eyewitnesses aren't always reliable nor are they always honest. Shortcuts are sometimes taken, assumptions and mistakes made; people accused of what they did not do.
Even if they did, protecting every defendant's rights preserves the system itself, a system design so precious to the Constitution's framers who had experienced life without its protections, such as a speedy trial and freedom from self-incrimination under questioning, coerced and unreliable confessions, or search and seizure without probable cause.
Yes, these things still happen sometimes. Zealously advocating for those protections, those "technicalities" designed to prevent or limit human failings and the temptation to abuse government power, is the thankless role of defense attorneys.
No story has only one side; who else will tell it? The other major participants in the system, prosecutors and law enforcement, have different duties and comprise only one side of justice's scale. Judges can't fact-gather; they can only consider the law as it applies to whatever evidence is brought before them. If no one presents a particular fact or issue to the court, it cannot be considered by the judge.
It is naturally frustrating to see an attorney defending someone who is "so obviously guilty." Perhaps they aren't guilty; perhaps they are. Perhaps someone else not yet identified by authorities has greater guilt. There is always more to the story, which may include those "mitigating circumstances" (self-defense, mental illness, abuse, etc.) that elicit compassion and merit consideration when determining legal culpability. Defense attorneys also have the job of making sure such additional evidence is brought to light, including relevant evidence prosecutors may not have or seek, but which provide missing pieces of the story.
The criminal justice system is adversarial. That means by design, both sides combine to bring relevant facts to judge and jury, and do not do each other's jobs. With only one side, all facts do not come to light and justice is incomplete.
But defense lawyers are not only protecting individuals; they are protecting all of us. They are protecting the Constitution. In a free society, no accused should be convicted before government has conclusively and fairly proved guilt under the law. That means to protect the system, sometimes justice must err on the side of the accused for the sake of us all.
I don't envy them their position, especially public defenders, who are dutiful public servants as much as are police, prosecutors and judges. Theirs is the least popular, least understood role. They are often vilified, yet without them that necessary balance in this crucial element of democratic society - justice with integrity for rich and poor - would be unachievable. Without a balanced criminal justice system, in time, our society would not be as free as it is.
"It is better one hundred guilty persons should escape than that one innocent person should suffer." - Benjamin Franklin
Sholeh Patrick, J.D., is a columnist for the Hagadone News Network. Contact her at [email protected].