An Oasis

Defending the Indefensible

About a week ago I sat with 3 friends in one of Edinburgh's more pretentious watering holes enjoying a few drinks when the conversation turned to law and crime and related misceltrivia. One, outspoken as it turned out, member of our circle questioned the justification for providing a defence to accused persons who have admitted to their lawyer that they were culpable. It comes to mind because I ran across this quote over at ambivalent imbroglio just now:

"There is never a deed so foul that something couldn't be said for the guy; that's why there are lawyers." —Melvin Belli

There was talk of how the system would break down, how the defendant may not be capable of knowing his guilt and how guilt could in any case only be determined by the court. The Belli quote is nice though because it reminded me that we are all equal members of the human race and that regardless of our flaws we deserve to treat each other as we would have ourselves treated.

Oops, I think I might have just turned religious ;-)

Posted by Paul at January 9, 2004 03:31 AM |