I may reply more fully once I have a chance to think matters through. I strive to be objective, but it's hard when one has as much empathy for the defendant as I do. I hate our adversarial system of justice where "anything you say can and will be used against you." We need understanding more than we need harsh punishment. And so, Ashley, I recognize how difficult it must be for you to deal with this topic. It would be so much easier to put it out of mind and move on to something else. Personally, I hope you stick with it.
A reckoning indeed. Yes! to everything here. Once again thank you for putting it into words as well as you do. I was a public defender for many years early in my career. I know very well how criminal law enforcement exists to serve power. As a result, media crime coverage has been setting my brain on fire for a long time. This one, though, felt like a watershed moment in American consciousness. The timing, the qualities of the defendant, everything about the way it was carried out…it’s left me speechless in a way. I wonder how our gigantic, fractured, drugged society can pull together - I think it can.
I may reply more fully once I have a chance to think matters through. I strive to be objective, but it's hard when one has as much empathy for the defendant as I do. I hate our adversarial system of justice where "anything you say can and will be used against you." We need understanding more than we need harsh punishment. And so, Ashley, I recognize how difficult it must be for you to deal with this topic. It would be so much easier to put it out of mind and move on to something else. Personally, I hope you stick with it.
A reckoning indeed. Yes! to everything here. Once again thank you for putting it into words as well as you do. I was a public defender for many years early in my career. I know very well how criminal law enforcement exists to serve power. As a result, media crime coverage has been setting my brain on fire for a long time. This one, though, felt like a watershed moment in American consciousness. The timing, the qualities of the defendant, everything about the way it was carried out…it’s left me speechless in a way. I wonder how our gigantic, fractured, drugged society can pull together - I think it can.