tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7105917.post131683564261059700..comments2023-09-28T11:03:34.448-05:00Comments on Woman of the Law: on being a public defender: apparently we're all liars.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7105917.post-49872067936169525672008-02-19T18:49:00.000-05:002008-02-19T18:49:00.000-05:00I have to disagree with you here, I don't think th...I have to disagree with you here, I don't think the judge actually thinks you're a liar, unless you've a history with that particular judge which he or she reads (wrongly, of course) as suggesting that.<BR/><BR/>I think judges know that they have to rule against defendants far more often than not, and that they don't have a good <EM>reason</EM> for it far more often than not, because the actual reason is often a) politics, and b) protecting their own jobs (or the jobs of various police officers). If they followed the case law, and statutes, and the Constitution, PDs and their clients would win 50% of the time or more, period.<BR/><BR/>Calling a PD a liar is simply the easiest way for a judge who's lost his/her moral scruples to overcome that thorny problem of having no basis in <EM>the law</EM> for deciding against a defendant.<BR/><BR/>My feeling is--if I can be totally presumptuous here--that you'll feel better about yourself, and your job, if you remember that very little of all the bullshit that comes your way is actually about <EM>you</EM>, and nearly all of it is about people more powerful than us PDs deciding that it's not such a big deal if [their] shit flows downhill.<BR/><BR/>S.Seth Abramsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08059849202129580100noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7105917.post-41850385085248793022008-02-14T22:05:00.000-05:002008-02-14T22:05:00.000-05:00this drives me nuts. i keep secrets. its a privi...this drives me nuts. i keep secrets. its a privilege that we enjoy. i don't tell lies. why would i lie and make an already difficult situation immensely more difficult? these are people who seem to be totally incapable of accepting the fact that there might be two or more sides to a story. any version of the facts that deviates from their narrow sense of what happened is frequently branded as a lie. okay i'll shut up.Cardboard Cutout Lawyerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13377747151534310245noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7105917.post-85853529762876159322008-02-13T13:57:00.000-05:002008-02-13T13:57:00.000-05:00Yeah, that's one of the easiest ways to set me off...Yeah, that's one of the easiest ways to set me off, calling me a liar either directly or through implication.<BR/><BR/>Why is it that prosecutors are always presumed to be acting in good faith in the public interest, and we are presumed to be pond-scum for providing what the accused has a right to under the Constitution? Beats me, friends and colleagues.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7105917.post-18311136926503735702008-02-11T17:30:00.000-05:002008-02-11T17:30:00.000-05:00Thank you, you aren't alone, and the comforting th...Thank you, you aren't alone, and the comforting thing about this post for meis, neither am I.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com