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Avvo III
An anonymous commentator said the following about my recent More on Avvo post:
1. You seem to be saying that because Avvo cannot replace the best possible method (live, face to face interviews and comparisons) of choosing one particular kind of attorney (criminal defenders) that it therefore has no value at all. What about people who need a lawyer but, for whatever reason, can't avail themselves of that optimal method of choosing? Does the part really speak for the whole that strongly here?2. Interestingly, you also suggest that whether a defendant is found guilty or not guilty depends pretty much wholly on who the defender is. Doesn't the available evidence in the case have anything to do with the outcome? Doesn't this part speak for the whole at all?
First, I'd like to point out that as long as I remain one of only two Houston criminal-defense lawyers with a 10/10 rating on Avvo, it's not in my self-interest to criticize the system. But the truth is the truth.
Texas or New York
It all started with these two blog posts, Lucky Stars and Four More Good Things, in which I listed some of the good things about the criminal "justice" system in Texas.
These posts weren't really about New York (actually, they weren't really about why lawyers have it better here, or I would have listed "good crime" and "low cost of living" as well as "more beautiful women" and "colder beer"), but Scott Greenfield of New York called on his fellow New York lawyers to tell why New York Lawyers have it better than Texans:
Unsurprisingly, Scott got no response. Now he has posted a poll on whether people would rather practice in Texas or New York. Here's the text of the poll:
Where would you rather practice criminal defense?
I Coulda Been a Contender!
Legal Antics is running a poll on the funniest law blog. Voting is open till June 25th. Vote early and... vote once. Legal Antics is trying to discourage ballot-box stuffing.
I was not nominated - Defending People is not the breakout comedy hit I was hoping it would be.
Technorati Tags: blawgs
More on Avvo
A silly class-action lawsuit against silly website Avvo has New York Legal Update asking,
Should Zagat's be careful when it provides numerical ratings for a restaurant's food, service and decor? Should movie critics be concerned when they give a movie 1 and half stars rather than 5 stars? Should the Automobile Association of America – AAA – worry about a class action suit when it gives a group of lodgings two diamonds as opposed to three. Rating systems give consumers valuable information in comparing two different products or services when they lack first hand information about those products or services. Rating services also provide an incentive for firms to provide the highest quality of services possibly. Do lawyers honestly believe that they are so unique, so different, that the services they provide are so different, that they simply cannot be evaluated on a numerical basis?
The Other Side of Texas's Bloodlust
The thing that shocks people the most about the Texas criminal "justice" system is the number of people sentenced to death and executed. Less shocking, but apparently still surprising, is the fact that Texas juries can recommend probation for people convicted of a murder committed before last Saturday (as long as it is not capital murder and the accused has no felony convictions or probations).
I think these two cultural oddities may be related.
You've probably heard some variation of the following parable:
A Connecticut lawyer was visiting Texas in the early years of it statehood. He sat in the courtroom one day (trials were shorter in those days, but not by much) and watched a man tried for stealing a horse. The jury convicted the man and sentenced him to death. The next day in the same courtroom he watched a murder trial; the jury convicted that man and sentenced him to probation. This was a shock to the Connecticut lawyer. After the second trial he went and visited the judge in his chambers. After introducing himself and sucking up to the jude a bit he said, "Your honor, I'm dying to know. How is it that if a man steals a horse he gets hanged, but if he kills another man he gets probation?" The old judge nodded, spat in the spittoon, and said, "Look out that window." The lawyer looked out the window and saw a quiet dusty street with a few horses tied to hitching posts in front of the businesses. "What am I looking for?" he asked. "Young man," said the judge, "do you see any horses that need stealin'?"
How Many Cases?
Defenders:
Gideon wants to get a rough estimate of how many cases you carry at a time.
Technorati Tags: blawgs
Us v. Them II
Shannon Quadros wrote, in comments to Us v. Them,
Don't you think McKinney is being a tad rough. I know that the DA's office isn't a bunch of angels but it's not like they are the spawn of Satan either. Well not that I know of anyway.What I would like to see is what someone who has been on both sides, say former ADA now criminal-defense lawyer (or possibly, though I think rarer, criminal-defense lawyer turned ADA) seems to think about prosecutors and defenders.I admire McKinney's passion and yours as well in advocating your clients' rights. And that your ardent advocacy of them deserves praise but don't DAs and ADAs have clients too – the ‘People'?
Short answer: no, I don't think Troy is being even a tad rough. I think his post is truthfully descriptive.
In criminal court you can fight for people against the government, or you can fight for the government against people. There is no third way. When DAs say they represent "the people" (they don't say it in Texas), it's a legal fiction; they represent the government. As agents of the government all they can do is reduce people's freedom. Their only tools are imprisonment and probation. If a prosecutor wanted to be sure he wouldn't hurt any people, he could simply not show up for work.There are many prosecutors with good intentions, and more with good rationalizations. The common factor in prosecutorial intentions and rationalizations is this: they think that they are competent to say who should be free and who shouldn't. The unfortunate belief that one person is somehow above (better than, more moral than, more valued than) other people is a prerequisite for prosecutorial work. Prosecutors' targets are certainly not people for whom most people have any sympathy. Defender Mike Ramsey says (attributing the quote to A.E. Housman), "Who God forsakes, I defend." One of Clarence Darrow's biographies was entitled "Attorney for the Damned." (Neither Ramsey nor Darrow was, as far as I know, ever a prosecutor.)
Demented and Sad, but Social.
Mary Flood writes in the Houston Chronicle:
The State Bar of Texas wants lawyers to be friends. They've started an online meeting place for bar members to chat, form groups, send out invitations and bond. It's called the Texas Bar circle.
Four More Good Things About Texas Criminal Defense Practice
From Troy McKinney:
You have a right to a lawyer no matter the offense. If you are indigent,
From me:
The accomplice witness rule (Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Article 38.14): nobody can be convicted on the uncorroborated word of an accomplice.
The snitch witness rule (Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Article 38.141): nobody can be convicted on the uncorroborated word of a police informant.
Technorati Tags: criminal defense, Texas
What's that Roaring Sound?
Lucky Stars post. Scott challenges his fellow lawyers in the third-largest state to comment on why the New York criminal liberty-rendering system sucks less than Texas's. No response yet from the tassel-loafer brigade.
Over at A Public Defender, though, Gideon makes the case for the Duchy of Grand Fenwick
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