Reactionary Reactions...

Gosh, that earlier post about Judge Fabrizio really set people off. I've gotten dozens of e-mails and comments questioning my ethics and my integrity and a recent poster just called me a 'fucking moron' for using real names.

My view is rather different. Judges get away with many of the awful things they do because there is no scrutiny and no outcry from the defense on behalf of the voiceless and the disenfranchised. That needs to stop. Yes, it takes some courage to take them on and to name their names, but if not we Public Defenders, then who?



I’d like to say I knew Judge Fabrizio would do what he did--and I certainly expected it (though I never thought he'd actually say the things he said) Still, no matter how long I practice, and no matter how many times I’m thwarted, I still believe, and still hope beyond hope, that one of these days some judge is going to wake up and look hard at the people he or she’s sentencing. I keep thinking that one of these days, one of them just might read something I’ve written and have some insight into the poor innocent woman or the scared defiant kid he’s about to send to prison, and that one fine day, all of the sweat and stress and toil, all the heated arguments and passionate sentencing pleas, all the late night investigation and all the legal maneuvering will somehow coalesce and will, finally, make a difference.