“I don’t mind telling you this, mister: we don’t owe him a thing. He got a fair trial, didn’t he?”

Friends:

I think that many, if not all of us, would agree with the theory that it is better to let 10 guilty people go free than to convict one innocent one. But I think many people would prefer to believe that theory with one slight modification: that it is better to let 10 guilty people go free than to convict one innocent one, so long as the guilty people going free don’t include an OJ Simpson or a Robert Blake or a George Zimmerman. It is only when the “obviously guilty” go free that society resumes its crusade against the US justice system. Yet our perspective on this has been conditioned over hundreds of years, this belief that the justice system should be fair and just; when it results in an unsatisfactory outcome, that is when our criticisms come to life with vigor.

But have you ever considered the alternatives? Have you given any thought to what our society would be like if we didn’t have this system of justice, if our forefathers hadn’t founded our justice system and allowed it to evolve to the system we have today?

As we all learned in school, our system of government is based upon the English system, with two houses in the legislature and a judiciary featuring judges and juries. Surely those bastions of progress and growth and innovation were ahead of their time in all aspects of westernized culture, right? You’d be surprised; I sure was.

We engage in the study of history for many reasons, one of which is to learn where we came from and to identify and appreciate the people and events that shaped our world. But a byproduct of this endeavor can also be a deep appreciation for what we have today. And with the study of the justice system on which our system is founded, there is much about our own system today that requires our appreciation.

In the 1800s, as the United States was just finding its footing and fighting wars on its property in virtually every generation, the English were simply business as usual, a society that had been around for and evolved over hundreds of years. But their justice system was absolutely atrocious. A society that had no clearly established police force rushing to mobilize as crime escalated, especially the crime of murder.

We love to champion the 8th Amendment and its protection from cruel and unusual punishment in all discussions regarding the death penalty. But can you imagine a system in which an execution was required to take place within 48 hours of a conviction? And not only was it to take place that rapidly, but it was a public spectacle, the attendance of which typically measured in the tens of thousands? We would like to think that the death penalty should be as much a deterrent of crime as it is a punishment for such crime, but can you imagine a system in which executions were so speedily and publicly enforced?

Or imagine a justice system in which scientific evidence was nothing more than mere theory, espoused by the allegedly learned who had no scientific background at all? Consider a defendant on trial for murder by poison and the “expert” testifies that since this particular poison is odorless, the fact that the person died and during the autopsy there was no odor of the poison, thus the death was by poison? Can you imagine such nonsense? We like to think that judges and juries are unpredictable now, but imagine a situation in which the judge and jury make findings that are founded in no logic or fact at all, and this after a jury deliberated for a whole 12 minutes?

Do you honestly think we have it that bad today? Is our system so awful? Before we take up our pickets and criticize our system because a George Zimmerman or an OJ Simpson go free, consider if we were back in the 1800s in England. Which system would you prefer? A system in which every effort is made to protect our jurors from exposure to outside influence about a case? Or a system in which the newspapers and other print media exaggerate events prior to trial, thus poisoning the jury pool, and convict a defendant before the jury has even heard any evidence?

As an attorney, I oftentimes get irritated by the public criticizing our justice system. I know it’s not perfect and I know that plenty of probably-guilty people go free; but before we stir up the embers to burn it to the ground, we have to consider how far our system has come and how, only a mere 150 years ago, things were much, much worse.

Ours is a highly evolved society and we are truly living in the most magnificent age for technology and science and entertainment and discovery. I don’t think it is a large stretch to lump our system of justice in that grouping. It isn’t perfect and it could certainly use some modification, but tell me what is perfect?

Advertisements

“Hot summer streets and the pavements are burning, I sit around”

Friends:

It’s been a few weeks since last we spoke and I was prepared to wait yet another week before contacting you again, simply because of how depressed I am. It is very difficult to be creative or even conversant when depression rears its ugly head. And every year at this time, I reach the lowest of the lows…

My favorite time of the year has always been summer. I know so many people who will disagree with me, who will claim that the heat is unbearable, that Thanksgiving through the New Year is the best time of year, or that the changing of the seasons in September and October is the most wonderful, or that springtime, with its blossoming nature and temperate climes is optimal. But summer has always been my favorite.

Perhaps it is because some of my fondest memories are of summer escapades—family vacations, summer camp, Dodgers baseball and swimming in the pool. No school, longer days, barbecues and the smell of charcoal and reruns on television. My most favorite time of year.

When my wife and I were planning our wedding we selected the
second week in August as the perfect time, figuring that if we wanted to take vacations for our anniversary it wouldn’t conflict with school and the weather would usually be ideal. It is now August 11, one day after our 11th anniversary, and where did we go for our anniversary? Nowhere at all. Why? Because school starts on Wednesday.

Yep, summer vacation, which seems to take longer and longer to show up, is over in less than the blink of an eye.

Growing up we got near on 3 months of vacation—now, a mere 8 weeks. By the time summer vacation is in full swing, it is time to do back-to-school shopping.

For a while, I forgot what summer vacation was. In college
I did a few summer schools; in law school, after the second year, it was time to find a job. After that, the summertime is no different than the wintertime or springtime. It’s just another season stuck indoors working.

But when you have children and they start school, summer takes on a renewed importance. Think only the kids are looking forward to summer break? Think again. Summer break means no more stress of getting the kids to school on time or doing homework or deadlines for school projects or open house or studying for tests. Parents enjoy summer break just as much as the kids, if not more so. During the summer I feel that I have a lighter mood, I am less stressed out, I am smiling more often and enjoying life, smelling the roses and tasting the lemonade. I stay up later, I sleep in a little bit longer, I just generally feel better and happier.

And yet just like that (snap), it’s over. I don’t care what the weathermen say (except for Mark Thompson, of course—he rocks), once school starts, summer is officially over. The sun just doesn’t seem to shine as bright, the roses just don’t smell as good, and my smile just isn’t as large.

So, my friends, I am depressed. Depressed that summer is over; depressed that my kids have to go back to school; depressed that with each summer that passes it means that my kids grow another year older; depressed that for however fantastic the summer break may have been, it would’ve been more fantastic if only we’d had a little bit more time.

And the counting begins again, counting down until summer break next year, when we start this all up again.
Enjoy the rest of your summer for however long it is. In my mind, it’s already fall, I am pulling out my sweaters, I am feeling a slight chill in my bones and I am trying to figure out a Halloween costume.