Defence attorneys or advocates for justice?
THE EDITOR, Sir:
THE IDEA of criminal defence attorneys being advocates for justice has been plaguing me for some time. I see these criminal lawyers, (no pun intended), especially those on talk shows and those who are often in the media, vehemently calling for justice for victims of crime. They cry for accountability from the Government and the police. They seem to be positing that the Government, the courts, and the police are solely, or mostly, responsible for crime and for the criminals getting away with murders, shootings, rapes, child molestation, etc. But what role do attorneys play in the massive acquittal of criminals in Jamaica?
It seems highly hypocritical for attorneys to be on talk shows, and other public platforms, vociferously lamenting the injustice for victims of heinous crimes, and, seemingly, blaming the State and the police on Monday, and by Tuesday, they are in court, working for the release of those same people, caught on tape gunning down a mother and her children in broad daylight. They are the ones vigorously defending the serial killers, rapists, child molesters, women abusers, gunmen, and area dons.
Don’t get me wrong now. At no time am I positing that accused people are not to be adequately represented. What I am saying is that attorneys who defend anyone and everyone, as long as they can pay, must shut up about justice because they are party to the injustice themselves. If you are an attorney and you see it necessary, every chance you get to complain about injustice against victims, then you should only take on those cases where you feel that the accused persons or people are being unjustly prosecuted. Otherwise, be quiet and receive your benefits from the broken system like everyone else.
When the Lyn couple, former well-known Manchester business people, were murdered in December 2006, no lawyer wanted to take the case for the accused men, Lennox Swaby and Calvin Powell. They were eventually patronised with legal representation, convicted and sentenced harshly, but deservingly, I suppose. This should have been a precedent of the stance of the justice system, which lawyers are a part of.
MEANING OF JUSTICE
However, based on the stance of defence attorneys, it would seem as though justice means acquittal of their clients, the rapists and murderers, not because they believe that they are actually innocent, but because it’s their job to defend them for profit. So what about justice for the victims? Aren’t they more deserving of this abstract and seemingly elusive commodity?
Finally, lest I be misconstrued by emotional readers, I wish to make myself abundantly clear: I am not throwing stones at the legal profession or lawyers in general. I am hurling boulders at criminal defence attorneys who clamour for justice today and defend the perpetrators of injustice tomorrow. I think they should just pick a side and stick with it. The hypocrisy is too much to bear.