Well-meaning people are frustrated that they're not all in jail.
Now that I had some chocolate, let me tell you about conveyor belts versus obstacle courses.
It could also be called: criminal law from the perspective of a defense lawyer.
1/
Now that I had some chocolate, let me tell you about conveyor belts versus obstacle courses.
It could also be called: criminal law from the perspective of a defense lawyer.
1/
https://twitter.com/WCoresq/status/1487231491268558850
This is from a book I published in 2014, so it's dated, but I have it handy⤵️
Americans are in love with prison.
Without going into details, our modern police and prison system picked up where slavery left off. "Law and order" meant putting the poor and minorities in jail.
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Americans are in love with prison.
Without going into details, our modern police and prison system picked up where slavery left off. "Law and order" meant putting the poor and minorities in jail.
2/
The 13th Amendment (abolishing slavery) has a loophole. Forced labor is legal after a person has been duly convicted of a crime.
Initially, it was easy: Beat a "confession" out of Black man, convict him with an all-White jury, and put him into a chain gang.
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Initially, it was easy: Beat a "confession" out of Black man, convict him with an all-White jury, and put him into a chain gang.
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Then, people like Thurgood Marshall dedicated their lives to improving the system, so things got better.
When I started as a defense lawyer, the idea was to create obstacles and make it harder to put people in jail.
We wanted an obstacle course.
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When I started as a defense lawyer, the idea was to create obstacles and make it harder to put people in jail.
We wanted an obstacle course.
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The opposing idea was a conveyor belt: From suspicion to arrest to conviction as quickly as possible.
For most of my professional life, liberals were on the side of the obstacle course.
I can't get used to liberals now demanding a conveyor belt.
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For most of my professional life, liberals were on the side of the obstacle course.
I can't get used to liberals now demanding a conveyor belt.
5/
People say, "They do it, so we should, too."
I maintain that the statement, "They do it, so we should do" is morally bankrupt.
If what "they" do is wrong, why should we want to imitate it?
Right?
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I maintain that the statement, "They do it, so we should do" is morally bankrupt.
If what "they" do is wrong, why should we want to imitate it?
Right?
6/
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