To the editor: I had a friend who was a criminal defense attorney. One of the cases was reported by the media. “That?” I asked my friend. “You are defending him?” (“Offering criminal defense is not a crime. So why do some demonize lawyers for it?” editorial, February 13)
My friend said he was defending. me, assuring me that the Constitution was being used appropriately, that the police were not committing a crime, and that the prosecution was honest. He was preserving democracy.
Wow.
A few years later, a friend of mine graduated from law school and became a public defender. He resigned after three years. The police lied, the prosecutors lied, and she didn't have the personnel or funds to offer a good defense.
It's scary out there. Support attorneys who defend those who are innocent until proven guilty, and even when “proven” guilty, they may not actually be guilty.
Niles Ross, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
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To the editor: Your editorial about lawyers with unpopular clients is a useful reminder to people that lawyers are not your clients.
Sometimes a good lawyer means representing bad clients, often to vindicate constitutional principles. The most famous case was the American Civil Liberties Union representing the Nazis in the Skokie, Illinois case before the US Supreme Court in 1977.
But there is no universal truth here, not even among lawyers.
It is still difficult to get pro bono representation for environmental cases at large law firms today, even when there are idealistic people at the firms who are willing to help. For decades, this was also true for reproductive rights.
Big companies may claim that these parties are not their clients, but they capitulate on their values and representation to their big clients. This is how the market works, and the market creates the culture in large companies.
Jonathan Kaufelt, Santa Monica
