Criminal defense lawyers and the search for truth

Article Abstract:

The balance of the criminal justice system is being destroyed by attacks on the independence of defense counsel. The position of defense is being demonized by false views of the legal system. Elements of the mythology include the idea that defense attorneys have a license to lie to get their clients off, that publicly appointed defenders are independent and have plentiful resources, that defendants are able to go free by fooling juries, that defense attorneys use exclusionary rules to get acquittals for guilty clients, that appeals are easily won on the basis of technicalities, and that defendants receive minimal sentences and are soon out on parole.

Analysis, Criminal justice, Administration of, Administration of criminal justice, Defense (Criminal procedure)

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Criminal procedure: moving from the accused as victim to the accused as responsible party

Article Abstract:

The criminal justice system should be reoriented toward a view of the accused as a responsible person rather than as a victim. This would require reforming the ethics of defense counsel as well as eliminating many current procedural rules. The rules in question, created by the Supreme Court during the 1960s, tend to frustrate the criminal justice system's ability to ascertain the truth. Truth-defeating rules such as the exclusionary rule are based on a view of the accused as a victim of social oppression in the form of racism, economic inequality or abuse by the police.

Social aspects, Criminal procedure, Criminal liability

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Colorado's Amendment 2: a result in search of a reason

Article Abstract:

Colorado's Amendment 2 was struck down in three different courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court in Romer v. Evans, but the rationale for invalidation was different in each court. The judges were apparently willing to go beyond precedent to reach a desired result. Amendment 2 would have barred any legal protection or special status on the basis of homosexuality or sexual orientation. Implications of the Romer decision for political structure, as well as for the legal treatment of homosexuality and same-sex marriages, are also discussed.

Gays, Colorado, Constitutional amendments, Constitutions, State, State constitutions

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