I often wonder why defense lawyers are so bad at forcing institutional change in the criminal justice system. It’s not like the system isn’t vulnerable to collective action--after all, the entire construct rests on plea bargains. As everyone in the system knows, there are nowhere near enough judges, jurors, prosecutors or defense lawyers in the Bronx to insure trials for everyone—so systematically refusing to take pleas would wreak real havoc. The problem of course, is judges and prosecutors, understanding the danger in such a move, would do their damnedest to really hurt the first batch of people to go to trial in hopes of dissuading others. That means a group of clients would, essentially be sacrificed in the name of a greater battle—and since we always represent the individual client, and no sensible client would or should be willing to make that sacrifice, organized resistance is something that remains out of reach of even dedicated defense lawyers.
Frustrating...
my controversial book about a day in my life as Public Defender in the South Bronx is finally available for Kindle and Ipad.
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