I mean, I just don’t really understand how lawyers can defend rapists, child predators, murderers, etc. I think I would have to have a moral line somewhere.
The fact that your moral line isn’t that people are innocent until proven guilty, and that all people deserve the impartial application of justice and due process is worrying, to say the least.
Maybe take some time for introspection.
Some are good and some are bad, being a defense attorney isn’t inherently good or bad. Ideally, their goal is to make sure people are treated fairly, which is a good thing
They’re not breaking their clients out of jail, they‘re just collecting and presenting any evidence that conflicts with the prosecution’s narrative. Juries and judges depend on someone performing that role so they can make an informed decision.
When a nurse looks at my dick, it isn’t because she wants to look at dicks. It’s her job. Let’s not moralize professions. It’s not about being a good or a bad person.
With that out of the way, I can only imagine psychopaths wanting a society in which defendants don’t have defense attorneys. I’m not saying that you are a psychopath, of course. The reason is that - at least when it comes to criminal law - the “people”, but really the state, have relatively unlimited legal resources at their disposal in trying to prove that you are guilty. If the state is allowed to have legally trained professionals on their side, it is only fair that you too can make your case, present your side of the story, with the help of a legal professional. Even if the court was to find you guilty - regardless of whether you actually committed the crime or not (since beyond that point you are legally and culturally a convict) - you still would want somebody who understands the law, the culture of the court, the bias of the judge, in order to let them fight for your right to a proportionate punishment.
defense attorneys are a vital aspect of modern justice, and its not simply unethical but utterly tyrannical to think that people aren’t entitled to a vigorous and competent defense.
Without the process of a trial to determine guilt, you’re literally just taking the prosecution’s word for it. Without a defense attorney being a right, the outcome of trial is more likely to be predicated on if they can afford a lawyer. the average person simply cannot competently represent themselves. Hell. most lawyers know better than to represent themselves.
keep in mind, if someone is clearly guilty such that it can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, most defense attorneys won’t let you not plead guilty for a deal. Their obligation is to seek the best possible outcome for their client, and sometimes that means pleading out.
As other commentors have pointed out, it’s vital that justice is applied as uniformly as possible in the interest of maintaining a fair and truly just system. Defense attorneys are an important check on the state and ensure (at least in theory) that it has met its burden in proving guilt before a person can be convicted, however heinous their alleged crimes may be. Without this adversarial dynamic prosecutors would be free to paint whatever narrative they please, whether rooted in reality or not, and any semblance of actual justice would go completely out the window.
A friend of mine has defended a large number of pedophiles. The way he put it: the state is, in comparison to the criminal, so overwhelmingly strong, that even the worst criminal deserves a lawyer. If not, the criminal might easily be found guilty for additional things that he/she didn’t do, or get a sentence way too high for the crime.
Yes. Every innocent person deserves a chance to defend themselves.
Also every guilty person. They’re human rights, not “rights you have until you do something bad”.
Look at how many arrests take place in the US. Basic googling gives me 10mil in 2019.
People love to talk shit on how bad police departments are. So how many people got arrested and accused of something they truly didn’t do? Who’s gonna help them?
That’s why. Their job is to provide pushback, to play devils advocate to make sure a case is more than just blind accusations. A defense attorney is there to keep a prosecution from turning into a witch hunt.
They’re as good as anyone else.
Guess you won’t have a defense attorney if you’re ever wrongly accused then?
Usually they’re innocent until proven guilty.
