We always enjoy finding clever sayings an advocate can use in court.
This week’s crop:
> Sgt Burres’s family? A mixed bag. Families are like fudge…they’re mostly sweet, with a few nuts
> A young NCO who is too nit-picky? As someone once said, “Today’s mighty oak is just yesterday’s nut that held its ground”
> Middle age is when you choose your cereal for the fiber, not the toy.
> The accused tried to hide his alcohol problem. But as any child knows, no matter how hard you try, you can’t hide a piece of broccoli in a glass of milk—and you can’t hide a drinking problem from your buddies
> A clear conscience is a typical sign of a fuzzy memory
> Why should fact X surprise the prosecution? Is there ever a day on which mattresses are NOT on sale?
# # #
LEAKED EMAILS. The recent election featured all sorts of confidential communications going public — from alleged comments of President-elect Trump on a bus to Democrat Internet gossipo. One professor at Georgetown University recently posed a provocative question: Why is a leaked email embraced as an acceptable contribution to public discourse rather than being scorned as stolen property?. Prof. Deborah Tannen observes that Richard Nixon faced
impeachment for the cover-up of the Watergate break-in, a parallel attempt to steal private communications from an opponent’s campaign. Somehow, she comments, a physical break-in is repugnant…but hacking into private computer accounts is not. Her disturbing final question: Is WikiLeaks a threat to all of us? Washington Post Outlook section, 30 October 2016
# # #
EQUAL JUSTICE FOR DEFENSE COUNSEL? The current Supreme Court lacks justices with criminal defense experience. Is seeing the world through the lens of a former prosecutor the best—sometimes the only– option for the nation?
Since 1993, not one single justice has spent significant time working as a criminal defense attorney. In contrast, six of the eight current sitting justices have prior prosecutorial experience at the trial or appellate level. Even the current pending Supreme Court nominee, Judge Merrick Garland, is a former federal prosecutor.
Supreme Court advocates representing criminal defendants are markedly less experienced than prosecutors. If one defines “novice” as one who has presented only one prior argument to the United States Supreme Court in the past 10 years, then 67% of the arguments on behalf of criminal accuseds are being presented by “novices.”
Champion magazine, NACDL, September / October 2 016.
# # #
Veteran J Mark Jackson movingly relates what it means to be a combat veteran:
> A nail gun sounds startlingly like the bark of an AK-47 when heard in the distance.
> You can wake up, desperately searching for your rifle, while your spouse softly says “it’s all right, it’s all right; your home”.
> You have a faltering voice when speaking of certain wartime events that trigger strong emotion
> A surge of engulfing pride surfaces whenever Old Glory passes or during the singing of our National Anthem
> Your friends consider you slightly obsessed with how a bed is made, with emphasis on the corners.
> You know what it means when somebody says “thank you for doing us the honor of serving your country.”
Washington Post, 11 November 2016
Like this:
Like Loading...
Related
Your Military Defender Blog 