Archive for August 9, 2007
Boys in Blue: A Brotherhood tale
Aug 9th
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer is in the midst of a special report on preferential treatment given to cops who were arrested for driving under the influence. Some were never prosecuted, some received significantly lighter punishments and quite a few asked for this “special treatment”.
This is making Robert Guest miss his badge.
My court is better than your court
Aug 9th
Last week I appeared in a court other than the one I’m attached to, to represent a client. That appearance marked the third time in just over a year that I’ve heard this line: “This is how we do things here“.
This really irks me. One, I don’t care. Two, it is symbolic of a deep-seated institutional malaise in some courts. Third, I don’t care.
It reveals a disturbing parasitic relationship between the prosecutors and the defense bar in a particular court; one where the prosecutors usually have the upper hand and the defense bar usually goes along, so as not to “upset” the State.
In those situations, I generally get the sense that I’m going to make things more difficult for the lawyers that practice there regularly and the prosecutors will transfer their anger at me to them and this, of course, the defense bar doesn’t like.
It makes me very uncomfortable and a little sad.
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