Of Judges, Prosecutors, and the Legal System

Let me begin by emphatically stating I love this country. I have traveled the world, and every time I return Home I kiss the ground. My family arrived on these shores (actually Ellis Island) around 1908. Great Grandpa wanted a better life for his children. He was running from the persecution, and the pogroms (mass killings) of what was then Russia.

Freedom he sought, and Freedom he found. Working hard he provided for a large family with little English ability. It has taken us the better of three generations on these shores to finally have college educated children. My sisters and I all went to college. We are the first. We are the professionals he dreamed of, and placed in high esteem. From an early age my parents and grandparents told me, "be somebody." "Don't be a nothing."They saw all the possessions of their family and friends robbed in Russia but instilled in us that no one could take what was in our heads. No one could rob us of our education.

Which brings me to our legal system. It has it's flaws. It is not a perfect system. It bothers me that cases can be processed in one state, one county, or one city differently than another. The range of punishments, penalties, and consequences for the entire range of human behavior subjectively applied by people placed and elected into positions of power and authority. I want to believe that these men and women chose their jobs to make a difference. I want to believe that they can see beyond their own prejudices and shortcomings. I want to believe that the middle ground is where the majority choose to live, work, and think. The basis for all we value as a people can't survive in the extremes. Fundamentalists and extremists are not fitted for a true democracy.

I am at times frustrated by the "lack" of reasonableness, logic, and fairness. I do my best to navigate the turbulent waters of a system that sometimes lacks a heart, and soul. After all my clients will have to face faces without emotion who will sit and judge them for their deeds without looking at the other 99% of their life history.

I work hard to balance my feelings with a head that tries to remember the tenets of Our Constitution, Our Bill of Rights, and Our Declaration of Independence. These are OUR Birthright. Born in a country that offers opportunities to those willing to work. I stand guard not just to defend the law, but to be a warrior for justice. Someone willing to say and do what is right for my client. I believe that everyone deserves:
The benefit of a doubt. Everyone deserves, fair dealing and appropriate treatment. Everyone deserves to be counseled about their options.

So our system is not perfect, neither are it's people. Nothing new there just a realization, and maybe a memberance that what is important sometimes can not be measured and what can be measured is not that important.