The bar is high for lawyers
Long held precious in ideals of justice is that it must be blind — to gender, race, religion or creed, nationality, disability, age and affluence. Lawyers, whether behind the bench, at the bar, or working in other fields are the guardians of this ideal in every society. While man’s imperfection inherently includes biases born of individual fears and experiences, the dangers of stereotype and prejudice can be overcome with self-awareness and conscious, lifelong efforts.
Public officials have the highest duty. As Wednesday’s article describing a prosecutor’s questionable Facebook comments starkly reminded, we lawyers must strive to pursue and treasure this legal ideal in every word, action, and as best we can, even in thought, whether outside or inside the courtroom. Without it, justice is elusive; people are treated unequally before the law, and those in the system suffer no less than the divided, distrustful society which unequal treatment and biased perceptions — however unintentional — generate.
Lawyers play a special role in the preservation of society itself. Most take that very seriously, perform self-checks for bias with necessary humility; but none of us is perfect. Beyond a personal sense of ethics, that professional responsibility is also guided by the Idaho State Bar’s Rules of Professional Conduct, such as:
“A lawyer, as a member of the legal profession… is an officer of the legal system and a public citizen having special responsibility for the quality of justice.” (Preamble)
“The prosecutor shall… refrain from making extrajudicial comments that have a substantial likelihood of heightening public condemnation of the accused…” (3.8 Special Responsibilities of Prosecutor)
“It is professional misconduct for a lawyer to (d) engage in conduct that is prejudicial to the administration of justice;” (8.4 Misconduct).
“A lawyer who, in the course of representing a client, knowingly manifests by words or conduct, bias or prejudice based upon race, sex, religion, national origin, disability, age, sexual orientation, or socioeconomic status, violates paragraph (d) when such actions are prejudicial to the administration of justice.” (Rule 8.4, Comment 3)
“Lawyers holding public office assume legal responsibilities going beyond those of other citizens.” (Rule 8.4, Comment 5).
Regardless of how much or little of these Rules apply to a particular situation, the need for a fair court system in which everyone is afforded exactly the same application of the law is paramount. In which its participants are seen simply as persons, free from labels or qualifying adjectives. Prosecutors, probation officers, judges, and others in the judicial system have certain discretion in how to apply the law; that discretion is where bias can tear the blindfold from Lady Justice’s eyes, tipping her scales.
As the rules and law often remind us, even the appearance of bias in the legal system can be enough to erode its foundations; that concerns us all. As Benjamin Franklin so aptly put it, justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are.
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Sholeh Patrick, J. D. is a columnist for the Hagadone News Network. Contact her at Sholeh@cdapress.com.