Sustained!: August 2011

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Transitioning

By Jacquelyn Carpenter

Does a zealous defense necessarily include letting clients know about our internal struggles, if any? I was never a prosecutor. I have always had the ability to interact with the accused and keep their confidences. As a result, I usually feel as though I have the whole story and that the prosecutor is missing a big piece (in some cases this is more true than others). Whenever I see a prosecutor who recently left their office, I wonder whether the transition is difficult and whether they are finding themselves still putting on the shoes of a prosecutor. Are they able to truly think like a defense attorney?

Recently, I was at a conference and felt comfortable enough with the recent defense attorney to inquire about the transition. He shrugged and said, “I worked for a defense firm prior to being a prosecutor.” He was well aware of the defense side beforehand, which might explain why he was such a reasonable prosecutor.

On the other hand, I spoke to another person who has shown some interest in becoming a defense attorney, but is currently still a prosecutor. He told me that he has asked many questions of former prosecutors. In one case, the prosecutor took 2 years in transitioning into a defense attorney; she found it very difficult. Now, she is the epitome of a defense attorney, but she initially struggled. What about her clients over the course of a two-year transition? I could not help but wonder whether, during those two years that she struggled, if she ever sold out a defendant in some unknown manner. Or was it all a conscience issue?

Nevertheless, if I were her client, I would want to know she was struggling with her role to defend me. I would want to know to ask some follow up questions. I would want to know that she was having difficulty with her role.

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

A True Loss

On August 12, 2011, Margurite Hudig was found deceased in her home. She was a lawyer who represented indigents and other criminal defendants. She was a beautiful lady and appeared to care deeply for her clients. I remember a few years back talking to her about a prostitution trial that she had coming up. I was impressed with her level of preparation. She cared so much for her clients. Following the trial, I inquired about the result and she humbly told me about her client's acquittal. No boasting or chest beating, she just appeared grateful for her client. Her compassionate representation of her clients was SUSTAINED! She was ready to oppose injustice and was not afraid to fight. I learned much from Margurire about how to do our business. She carried herself so well... always pleasant... always professional. May she rest in peace.

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

The Golden Rule in Law

By: Jacquelyn Carpenter

We grew up with “The Golden Rule”: Do unto others as you would have them to do unto you. This rule has caused us to tell white lies to not hurt another’s feelings, remain true to our commitments by not dumping the average guy for the jock type, and to remain silent when we had nothing good to say. Admittedly, I am a big fan of remaining silent - perhaps, it is the defense lawyer in me. I just feel as though you get in less trouble the less you say.

The Golden Rule applies to lawyers as well. I immediately learned a couple of things upon acceptance into the bar: (1) not all lawyers are good lawyers and (2) lawyers do not speak ill of each other . . . generally. I have been in the blawgosphere long enough now that Scott Greenfield’s blog Simple Justice Keep it in the Family comes as no surprise when he says that lawyers need to break this code of silence and call some people out:

Over the years that I've written Simple Justice, I've named names and called out lawyers, generating no shortage of animosity from those who didn't want anyone to know. My flank is more exposed than most, and there have been plenty of lawyers who have disagreed with me, whether in specific instances or in general, for having broken the silent pledge of the brotherhood and revealed the secret underbelly of lawyering. For the most part, I leave it to others to decide whether my calls are right or wrong.

But who do we call out, if anyone? And for what? I am of the mindset that people have the constitutional right to decide to hire a bad lawyer if they so choose. They may like the lawyer’s bedside manner better than someone else’s. “Bad” is also such a subjective word; what I consider “bad” may not be someone else’s definition of bad. For a person charged with driving while intoxicated, by way of example, they may like that their lawyer is a recovering alcoholic and can, thus, understand them better. So what if the lawyer shows up drunk to court on trial day? Who am I to decide “good” versus “bad” when it comes to the quality of a lawyer?

One thing I can say with certainty, defense lawyers and prosecutors are very different. Defense lawyers may not have access to certain resources, such as doctors, investigators, child sex abuse experts, etc. Defense lawyers may also tend not to have more than a couple of people with whom they can discuss a case privately. However, prosecutors have a duty to see justice is done. More importantly, prosecutors can cause justice to happen with a mere stroke of a pen.

The fact is this: as lawyers, any one of us could fall into the same or similar circumstance and need the same mercy we refuse to dole out to others. Even though the “I would never” language is sure to enter your mind, think about how many clients (if you are a criminal defense attorney) that never foresaw that they would need a criminal attorney, that cannot believe they are about to hire you or even need to. Blatant attitudes of disrespect for the court and the judicial system may require some open attention as opposed to the ignorant or accidental mistake . . . I’m just saying.

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Trayvon Martin was shot and killed in Florida by George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer. Martin was returning from a store buying some green tea and skittles. Trayvon Martin was wearing a hooded and was, by all accounts, minding his own business. Zimmerman shot Martin and alleged self-defense. His death was tragic. But to make matters worse, when officers sought to arrest Zimmerman and charge him with manslaughter, a prosecutor stepped in and blocked the charges. Upset by the disregard for this young man's life, people accross the nation took to the streets and protested. The lack of charges sparked discussion and activism from school yards all the way to houses of congress. Trayvon Martin's death increased awareness of our present state, much like Emmitt Till's death and the injustice that followed it increased awareness in the 1950s. People's objections to the status quo and the good ole boy's network were SUSTAINED! when Zimmerman's case was taken over by a new prosecutor and charges were filed.

The Gavel Goes Down on the 1%: Occupy This!

Protestors took to the Streets in New York, occupying Wall Street to protest corporate greed and corruption. The original protest began on September 17, 2011, and since then other protests have been held in 70 major cities and over 600 communities in the U.S. Many of these protest are still on-going. Here in the City of Houston, protestors are staging rallies nearly every week. Internationally, other protest have modeled themselves after Occupy Wall Street, in over 900 cities worldwide. These protests have been growing. We are witnessing the beginnings of a social movement. With their goals yet undefined, but steadily becoming more defined; the gavel goes down on the "Occupy" Movement's objections to the explotation of the 99% by the 1%. It will only be a matter of time until the energies of the protestors are transferred to other vehicles: like voter registration drives and engaging in other activities to increase social awareness.

The Gavel Goes Down: Police Officers Committing Crimes

In many places police officers commit crimes with impunity. But on March 31, 2011, a federal judge in New Orleans sentenced a former New Orleans police officer to 25 years in prison for his role in the shooting death of a man and the burning of his body after Hurricane Katrina.

David Warren was convicted in December of shooting 31-year-old Henry Glover without justification outside a strip mall less than a week after the storm hit in August 2005.

Sentencing is scheduled later for former officer Gregory McRae, who burned Glover's body in a car near a police station.

A jury also convicted former Lt. Travis McCabe of writing a false report on the shooting. His sentencing is on hold while his lawyers seek a new trial. But the Gavel Goes Down on Police getting away with Police Abuse. Twenty-five years may seem a little light for murder (The feds do not have parole and he will serve at least 20 years), but it certainly is a start.

The Gavel Goes Down: Oppression and Genocide in Sudan

Sudan may be headed for a split, with Northern Sudan and Southern Sudan forming two independent nations. Southern Sudanese election officials posted early results Sunday, January 16, 2011, indicating that perhaps more than 95 percent of voters in this regional capital voted to secede from Sudan. The referendum, held last week, was the capstone of decades of civil war in Sudan, which pitted Christian and animist rebels in the south against Arab rulers in northern Sudan. All indications show the weeklong referendum passing.

While the results are the first concrete steps for the south to secede from the rest of Sudan and become its own country, the final vote tally is not scheduled to be announced until Feb. 14. And true independence would not come before July 9, when an U.S.-backed peace agreement between the north and the south expires. It was signed in 2005. Still, many issues need to be ironed out, including citizenship rights, oil sharing and the future of the contested and volatile Abyei region, which was supposed to hold its own referendum on whether to join the south or the north but never did. But, the Gavel Goes Down on the world's objections to the attempted genocide that occurred in Sudan that resulted in the indictment of Sudan's president by the International Criminal Court.

In Washington, President Barack Obama congratulated the south on holding a peaceful, orderly referendum, calling it an "inspiration." But he also warned against breaking the peace agreement timetable.

The Gavel Goes Down: Ignoring the impact of Slavery on American History

After more than eight years of street demonstrations, arguments, haggling and missed deadlines; after extensive public debate about the impact of slavery on life in the United States and on the life and moral character of George Washington; after countless news articles and TV programs, the site marking the intertwined lives of presidents and slaves opened to the public on December 15, 2010 on Philadelphia's Independence Mall. "President's House: Freedom and Slavery in Making a New Nation" chronicles the story of race and power at the heart of our nation's birth. President George Washington owned some 300 slaves. His ownership of these slaves brought him status and power, which positioned him for the presidency. Despite Washington's signing of the Fugitive Slave Act in 1793, many slaves owned by him struggled and obtained freedom. The exhibit is the fruit of the struggled of the Black community in Philadelphia. It is an acknowledgment that Black people were part of America and contributed to it from the beginning. The exhibit tells the story of the inhabitants of the first Executive Mansion: George Washington and John Adams and the nine enslaved Africans held there by President Washington during his two terms in office. It is a stark objection to the white-washing of American history.

The Gavel Goes Down: 55 Years After Rosa Said No

The Gavel Goes Down: Eliminating the Kibera

The Kibera slum in Nairobi, Kenya has long been known as "the largest slum in Africa." This assertion has been recently challenged and many observers now believe that Kibera is the second largest slum in Africa. In September of 2009, the government of Kenya began clearing the Kibera to -rehouse all of the Nairobi's slum residents. Kenya plans to move all of the residents within the next nine years to communities that will include schools, markets and other facilities. Through the use of U.N. funding, funds from other relief efforts, and its own resources; the Kenyan government is spearheading the project. I (Eric J. Davis) visited the Kibera in 2006 and had the opportunity to spend time with some of the residents. Due to my ethnicity and the fact that we were accompanied by some Kibera residents, we were able to blend in and pass for locals. The resilance of the people was amazing. It was a small city where the people appeared to govern themselves well. The Kibera was safer than many major American cities. Nevertheless, the effects of poverty were apparent. There were no schools, no clean water, no sewage and no hospitals. Should the resettlement survive legal challenge (some slum lords are claiming ownership of the land and are taking the government to court - people pay rent to live in the slums), this African nation will take a big step towards eliminating poverty in its borders. Kenya is proof that African nations can govern themselves. The gavel goes down on Kenya's objections to poverty.