Personally, I do not handle criminal defense work for a number of reasons - the most significant being that I would be hard put to defend someone I thought guilty. But that's not to say that I do not respect attorneys who do take on criminal cases because having defense counsel is important if we are to keep our legal system from deteriorate into show trials and quasi-lynch mobs. Like it or not, for the system to work overall, defense counsel play an important role in keeping the system honest. Or at least as honest as fallible humans are able to do so. Extremists on the far right, however, are rejecting the concept of innocent until proven guilty and are now attacking defense attorneys merely for doing their role. An example of one such extremist is Liz Cheney, daughter of Emperor Palpatine Cheney who has nothing but contempt for the legal system. A trait apparently inherited from her delusional and amoral father. The New York Times has an important editorial taking people like Ms. Cheney to task. Here are some highlights. *
In the McCarthy era, demagogues on the right smeared loyal Americans as disloyal and charged that the government was being undermined from within. In this era, demagogues on the right are smearing loyal Americans as disloyal and charging that the government is being undermined from within.
*
These voices — often heard on Fox News — are going after Justice Department lawyers who represented Guantánamo detainees when they were in private practice. It is not nearly enough to say that these lawyers did nothing wrong. In fact, they upheld the highest standards of their profession and advanced the cause of democratic justice. The Justice Department is right to stand up to this ugly bullying.
*
It did not take long for the lawyers to become a conservative target, branded the “Gitmo 9” by a group called Keep America Safe, run by Liz Cheney, daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, and William Kristol, a conservative activist (who wrote a Times Op-Ed column in 2008). The group released a video that asks, in sinister tones, “Whose values do they share?”
*
On Fox News, Ms. Cheney lashed out at lawyers who “voluntarily represented terrorists.” She said it was important to look at who these terrorists are, including Salim Ahmed Hamdan, who had served as Osama bin Laden’s driver. Let’s do that.
*
In order to attack the government lawyers, Ms. Cheney and other critics have to twist the role of lawyers in the justice system. In representing Guantánamo detainees, they were in no way advocating for terrorism. They were ensuring that deeply disliked individuals were able to make their case in court, even ones charged with heinous acts — and that the Constitution was defended.
It is not the first time that the right has tried to distract Americans from the real issues surrounding detention policy by attacking lawyers.
*
If lawyers who take on controversial causes are demonized with impunity, it will be difficult for unpopular people to get legal representation — and constitutional rights that protect all Americans will be weakened. That is a high price to pay for scoring cheap political points.
*
I would venture that if anyone is twisted and needs to be demonized it's Ms. Cheney and those like her who have no regard for the rule of law and prefer to play to those with a base lynch mob mentality. It's pretty disgusting, but then one need only look at her father, an advocate of war crimes.
In the McCarthy era, demagogues on the right smeared loyal Americans as disloyal and charged that the government was being undermined from within. In this era, demagogues on the right are smearing loyal Americans as disloyal and charging that the government is being undermined from within.
*
These voices — often heard on Fox News — are going after Justice Department lawyers who represented Guantánamo detainees when they were in private practice. It is not nearly enough to say that these lawyers did nothing wrong. In fact, they upheld the highest standards of their profession and advanced the cause of democratic justice. The Justice Department is right to stand up to this ugly bullying.
*
It did not take long for the lawyers to become a conservative target, branded the “Gitmo 9” by a group called Keep America Safe, run by Liz Cheney, daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, and William Kristol, a conservative activist (who wrote a Times Op-Ed column in 2008). The group released a video that asks, in sinister tones, “Whose values do they share?”
*
On Fox News, Ms. Cheney lashed out at lawyers who “voluntarily represented terrorists.” She said it was important to look at who these terrorists are, including Salim Ahmed Hamdan, who had served as Osama bin Laden’s driver. Let’s do that.
*
In order to attack the government lawyers, Ms. Cheney and other critics have to twist the role of lawyers in the justice system. In representing Guantánamo detainees, they were in no way advocating for terrorism. They were ensuring that deeply disliked individuals were able to make their case in court, even ones charged with heinous acts — and that the Constitution was defended.
It is not the first time that the right has tried to distract Americans from the real issues surrounding detention policy by attacking lawyers.
*
If lawyers who take on controversial causes are demonized with impunity, it will be difficult for unpopular people to get legal representation — and constitutional rights that protect all Americans will be weakened. That is a high price to pay for scoring cheap political points.
*
I would venture that if anyone is twisted and needs to be demonized it's Ms. Cheney and those like her who have no regard for the rule of law and prefer to play to those with a base lynch mob mentality. It's pretty disgusting, but then one need only look at her father, an advocate of war crimes.
1 comment:
Dick Cheney should be on trial for war crimes. Besides which he has done more harm to America than any of those being held at Guantanemo.
Post a Comment