The Law

Today was a big day for John. Two of the major cases he'd worked on all summer concluded and so did his summer work for the Federal Public Defender's office.

When John began at the Defender's office, he was unsure of what to expect. I was concerned.

As a child, I wanted to be an attorney. But, I wanted the job of defending the innocent people... just them. What could it be like to defend someone you knew was guilty???

Avril Lerman has been instrumental in shaping both John's conception of defense work and my own. Early on, Avril explained that you don't defend people, you defend the law. A defender's job is to make sure that everyone followed the law and that the best possible outcome, within the law, is achieved for your client.

Avril is an incredibly warm person. You may remember her from previous posts-- She and her husband (he's a judge) had us over for dinner. She took us to the baseball game.-- She spends her days working on habeas cases. As best as I can tell, this is any due process claim... so, some wrongdoing in the arrest, interrogation, or prosecution of a client. Apparently habeas cases are nearly impossible to win, at least at the federal level. Moreover, the cases can take years to complete.

The other night at the baseball game (you can tell how closely I was watching the game) I asked her how she could work for years on cases that almost always end in defeat. Avril said you had to redefine winning. She said that winning becomes letting your client's voice be heard, doing your best, and seeing a case through.

I reflected on how disenfranchised some of my students felt, even at 7th or 8th grade. It was hard work everyday to prove to these students that I cared, that people cared. What if they didn't see that? What if they went another 10 years without knowing that people and the world really cared? All of the sudden I could understand what Avril was saying... her job wasn't to win a case that didn't deserve to be won; her job was to give people some faith in humanity. So that people who had to spend their lives in jail knew that someone, somewhere cared and did their best for them.

What I've gleaned from Avril's words and John's tales, John experienced first hand. He worked on several cases. He developed a strategy for overcoming a predisposition rebuttal to entrapment cases. He wrote several memos on various issues. Most recently he worked on 2 cases:

* The first case was on behalf of an immigrant who had illegally reentered the country. He had to come to the U.S. at age 12 fleeing abuse with his sister. He had issues with drugs and theft. But, in the past 25 years, he's had a family with his wife. He's "Mr. Mom", giving up all of his old criminal life. He and his family are relocating to Mexico... but the question was, "How much jail time did he need to serve before he was deported?" The law stated 74 months based on his previous criminal history. The U.S. Attorney (the prosecutor) was seeking 24 months. John's office was hoping for the 8 months he'd served already... and then immediate deportation. John prepared the 16 page argument for why "time served" was sufficient. The judge agreed.

* The second case was about a pain management doctor who faced 20 years in prison for distributing controlled substances as a drug dealer, not a doctor. As John saw it, the doctor wasn't a very good doctor... but, he wasn't a drug dealer either. The jury agreed. After a week at trial, the jury found the doctor not guilty on all charges.

John has found his time at the Federal Public Defender's office to be challenging, rewarding, and insightful. The other attorneys have given John lots of positive feedback and he's excited about his next challenge... though glad to have a break!